BOOK    CLEAN 

'  .^..VES 


A  BOOK  OF 
PRECIOUS  STONES 

THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  GEMS  AND 
GEM  MINERALS,  AND  AN  ACCOUNT 
OF  THEIR  SCIENTIFIC,  COMMERCIAL, 
ARTISTIC,  AND  HISTORICAL  ASPECTS 

BY 

JULIUS  WODISKA 


:•  :WITH  46 ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  COLOR  AND  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
Ube  IKnfcfeerbocfeer  press 


HJBUCUB8ABT 
bM 

fUJMUtt 

?3vxwrwrt.   v 

u\ 


COPYRIGHT,  1909 

BY 
JULIUS  WODISKA 

Sixth   Printing 


Printed  »n  (ft«  United  States  of  America 


PKEFACE 

E  object  of  the  author  is  to  gather  together 
in  the  present  volume  information  of  all 
sorts  about  precious  stones  and  the  minerals 
which  form  their  bases ;  it  has  been  his  endeavour 
to  include  all  of  the  many  aspects  of  his  sub- 
ject, and,  at  the  same  time,  to  present  it  in 
such  form  that  it  may  serve  at  once  as  a  guide 
to  the  professional  jeweller,  a  book  of  reference 
to  the  amateur,'  and  yet  fu'ove  of  equal  interest 
to  the  general  reader. 

The  study  of  gems,  iii  its  more  obvious  as- 
pects, forms  a  'division  of  mineralogy — or  more 
specifically  of  crystallography — and  of  the  allied 
science,  chemistry ;  but  the  author  has  attempted 
to  avoid  the  technicalities  of  these  subjects  and 
present  the  matter  in  a  popular  manner. 

While  it  is  true  that  "  gemology "  may  be 
included  under  mineralogy  or  chemistry,  never- 
theless, so  varied  are  the  associations  with  gems, 
that  if  this  scientific  treatment  of  them  were 
alone  attempted,  there  would  be  disregarded 
iii 


ivv  Preface 

some  of  the  most  interesting  aspects  of  the  sub- 
ject, which  is  related  not  only  to  art,  but  to 
history  and  even  mythology  as  well. 

From  all  these  various  standpoints  has  the 
subject  been  approached.  The  precious  stones 
are  described  in  chapters  devoted  to  each,  in 
the  order  in  which  they  rank  in  popular  estima- 
tion, as  are  also  the  more  important  semi- 
precious stones,  which  are  classified,  those 
occasionally  used  being  briefly  treated.  Dia- 
mond-cutting, its  history  and  processes,  the 
lapidary  and  his  work,  imitations  and  recon- 
structed gems,  myths  and  legends,  favourite 
gems  of  the  great,  gems  and  gem  minerals  in 
museums,  the  trade  cm  ion  of  the  diamond  cut- 
ters, and  the  designing  and  makmg  of  jewelry 
in  the  new  arts  and  crafts  movement,  are  all 
considered,  and  further  valuable  specific  in- 
formation is  comprehended  iii  appended  lists, 
tables,  and  an  extensive  bibliography. 

In  expressing  indebtedness  to  those  who  have 
been  of  assistance  to  him,  the  author  would  first 
cordially  thank  his  friend  Mr.  Allen  S.  Williams, 
whose  scientific  knowledge  and  literary  skill 
have  been  of  very  great  help  in  preparing  this 
volume.  Among  authorities  drawn  upon  for  in- 
formation are  Dr.  Max  Bauer,  Professor  James 


Preface  v 

D.  Dana,  Dr.  George  Frederick  Kunz,  Profes- 
sor Oliver  Cummings  Farrington,  Mr.  Edwin 
W.  Streeter,  Mr.  Gardner  F.  Williams,  Profes- 
sor Louis  P.  Gratacap,  Mr.  Wirt  Tassin,  and 
Mr.  W.  R.  Cattelle.  Thanks  for  valuable  aid 
are  also  due  to  Mr.  Arthur  Chamberlain,  editor 
of  The  Mineral  Collector;  to  the  editors  of  The 
Jeweller's  Circular-Weekly,  The  Keystone,  and 
The  National  Jeweller;  to  The  Foote  Mineral 
Company  and  Mr.  William  H.  Rau,  of  Philadel- 
phia; to  Mr.  John  Lament,  to  Mr.  Albert  H. 
Petereit,  and  Mr.  Ludwig  Nissen  of  New  York 
City;  to  Mr.  Walter  Scott  Perry  of  Brooklyn, 
and  to  the  University  of  California. 

The  author  feels  that  the  experience  of  more 
than  thirty  years  as  artisan  and  as  manufac- 
turer of  jewelry  and  importer  of  gems  justifies 
him  in  presenting  in  book  form  the  information 
which  is  constantly  sought  of  those  who  are 
regarded  as  authorities  upon  the  subject  of 
precious  stones. 

J.  W. 
NEW  YORK,  June,  1909. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACK 

L     GEMS    AND    JEWELRY — THE   INTEREST 

OF  THE  SUBJECT,  AND  THE  NEED  OF 

MORE  BOOKS  CONCERNING  IT      .         .  1 

II.     CLASSIFICATIONS  OF  PRECIOUS  AND  SEMI- 
PRECIOUS STONES        ....  7 

III.  THE  DIAMOND 23 

IV.  EMERALDS 63 

V.     THE  PEARL 72 

VI.     RUBIES 79 

VII.     THE  SAPPHIRE 91 

VIII.     THE  AMETHYST 96 

IX.     CORAL 102 

X.     GARNET 108 

XL     THE  OPAL 115 

XII.     THE  TOPAZ 122 

XIII.  TURQUOISE 127 

XIV.  CAT'S-EYE                                                   ,  131 


viii  Contents 


CHAPTER  PACiK 

XV.     CHBYSOPBASE       .         .         .         .         .138 

XVI.     JADK 143 

XVII.     MOONSTONE  ......  147 

XVIII.     PERIDOT        ......  151 

XIX.     KUNZITE 154 

XX.     TOURMALINES 160 

XXI.     AMBER 169 

XXII.     BLOODSTONE 173 

XXIII.  Moss  AGATE 176 

XXIV.  ONYX  AND  SARDONYX  .         .         .         .179 

XXV.     SEMI-PRECIOUS  STONES  OCCASIONALLY 

USED 183 

XXVI.     CUTTING  DIAMONDS  AND  OTHER  GEMS  195 

XXVII.     IMITATIONS,   IMPROVEMENTS,  AND  RE- 
CONSTRUCTION    209 

XXVIII.     FOLK-LORE 228 

XXIX.     FAVOURITE  GEMS   OF  DISTINGUISHED 

PEOPLE 239 

XXX.     GEM  MINERALS  AND  GEMS  IN  MUSEUM 

COLLECTIONS     .....  245 

XXXI.     OUR  DIAMOND   CUTTERS    AND    THEIR 

TRADE  UNION          .         .         .         .253 

XXXII.     JEWELRY  IN  THE  ARTS   AND  CRAFTS 

MOVEMENT                                           .  262 


Contents 
APPENDIX 


PAGE 


Alphabetical  List  of  Gem  Minerals    .         .         .  285 

List  of  Important  Gems  According  to  Colours  292 

Dichroism — A  List  of  Leading  Twin-Coloured 

Gems 294 

The  Mohs  Table  of  Hardness     .         .         .         .295 

Table  of  Hardness  of  Gem  Minerals  .         .  296 

Table     Showing     Specific     Gravity     of    Gem 

Minerals •  297 

Refraction 298 

Transparency  of  Gems  under  Rontgen  (X-)  Rays  300 

A  Carat's  Weight  in  Various  Localities    .         .  301 

Crystallography— Systems  of  Crystalline  Form  303 

"Birth-Stones":     A  Rhyming  List  of  Natal 

Gems  Popularly  Identified  with  the  Months  303 

Others  Books  about  Gems  (Bibliography)         .  307 

GLOSSARY 343 

INDEX  .  357 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  COLOUR 


Cinnabar,  Tungyen  Prefecture,  Kweichow,  China 

Frontispiece 

Emerald  crystal,  Tokowaja  River,  Ural  Moun- 
tains. Pink  Beryl,  Crystal  and  Cut  Gem, 
Mesa  Grande,  Cal 64 

Tourmaline.  Green  and  pink  Tourmaline  from 
Mesa  Grande,  Cal.;  owned  by  Harvard  Uni- 
versity. Pink  Tourmaline  in  Albite  with 
Lepidolite,  Mesa  Grande,  Cal.  .  .  .  160 

Gold — remarkably  fine  specimens  from  Cali- 
fornia ,  188 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Kimberley,  South  Africa,  Diamond  Mines:  Open 
workings 28 

Kaffir  employees  gambling  in  the  compound,  Kim- 
berley Mines 30 

On  the  floors  loading  blue  earth  for  the  washing 
machines  at  Kimberley.  Diamond  pulsator  at 
De  Beers  Diamond  Mines,  Kimberley,  South 
Africa 32 

Railway  to  Kimberley,  South  Africa     ...       34 
One  day's  diamond  wash  at  the  Kimberley  Mines       36 

The  tunnel  along  one-thousand-foot  level,  De 
Beers  Diamond  Mines 38 

Cullinan  Diamond — in  the  rough;  actual  size  46 

Cullinan  Diamond:  Nine  largest  gems  cut  from 
the  rough  stone 48 

Cullinan  Diamond:  Cleaving  implements;  room 
in  Amsterdam  whare  the  rough  stone  was  cut 
and  polished 50 

Amethyst:  Extraordinary  specimen  of  Amethyst 
crystals 96 


xiv  Illustrations 

PAOB 

Garnet  crystals,  and  pebbles  of  Pyrope.  Sap- 
phires. Diamond  crystals  from  Kimberley 
Mines 108 

Siberian  Topaz.  Specimens  in  United  States 
National  Museum 122 

Agate:  Carnelian  from  Uruguay.     Moss  Agate     176 
Agate  with  concentric  rings  .         .         .         .178 

Azurite  and  Malachite.  Topaz  crystals  with 
Smoky  Quartz.  Specimens  in  United  States 
National  Museum 186 

Diamond  cutter  and  setter  at  work.  Diamond 
sawing  machines 194 

Oriental  gem  cutters 198 

Tulp  Straat,  Amsterdam — The  diamond  centre 
of  the  world  .  ....  200 

Gem  minerals:  A  celebrated  collection          .        .    250 

Brooch,  Festoon,  Ring,  and  Earring:  Suggestions 
for  students  and  jewellers 252 

Suggestions  for  students  and  jewellers         .        .     254 

Design  for  a  Diamond  Collar.  Courtesy  of 
Juergens  &  Anderson,  Chicago,  111.  .  .  256 

Handicraft  of  Pratt  Institute  students          .         .     258 

Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Work  of 
students.  ....  260 


Illustrations  xv 


Suggestions  for  students  and  jewellers.  Work  of 
students  at  Pratt  Institute  ....  262 

Work  of  students  in  Rhode  Island  School  of 
Design 264 

Cooper  Union  Jewelry  Class:  Prize  design  by 
Mr.  Frederick  E.  Bauer 266 

Society  of  Arts  and  Crafts,  Boston:  Gold  pen- 
dant with  Topaz  and  Pearls.  Gold  pendant 
with  Pearls  (old  chain).  Gold  ring  with  Opal 
and  Emeralds.  By  Mrs.  Ednah  S.  G.  Higginson  268 

Specimens  of  work  done  by  students  at  Rhode 
Island  School  of  Design 270 

Rhode  Island  School  of  Design:  Specimens  of 
students'  work 272 

Oxidised  silver  necklace,  pale  yellow  Topaz,  and 
white  Pearl  blisters  by  Florence  A.  Richmond. 
Pendants  by  Frank  Gardner  Hale.  Society  of 
Arts  and  Crafts,  Boston 274 

Development  of  a  design  by  a  student  at  the  Rhode 
Island  School  of  Design 276 

Dyers'  Arts  and  Crafts  School,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Finished  work  of  students  .  278 


A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 


CHAPTER  I 

GEMS  AND   JEWELRY  —  THE  INTEREST  OP  THE  SUB- 

JECT,  AND   THE   NEED   OF    MORE   BOOKS 

CONCERNING   IT 


the  earliest  ages  jewels  have  powerfully 
attracted  mankind,  and  the  treatment  of 
precious  stones  and  the  precious  metals  in  which 
they  are  set,  often  serves  as  important  evidence, 
not  only  concerning  the  art  of  early  times  and 
peoples,  but  also  concerning  their  manners  and 
customs.  Jewels  have  been  the  gifts  and  ran- 
soms of  kings,  the  causes  of  devastating  wars, 
of  the  overthrow  of  dynasties,  of  regicides,  of 
notorious  thefts,  and  of  innumerable  crimes  of 
violence.  The  known  history  of  some  existent 
famous  gems  covers  more  years  than  the  story 
of  some  modern  nations.  Around  the  flashing 
Kohinoor  and  its  compeers  cluster  world-famous 
legends,  not  less  fascinating  to  the  general 


2  A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

reader  who  loves  the  strange  and  romantic,  than 
to  the  antiquary  or  the  historian  or  the  scientist. 
These  tales  of  fact  or  fiction  are  fascinating  in 
part,  because  they  associate  with  the  gems  fair 
women  whose  names  have  become  synonymous 
with  whatever  is  beautiful  and  beguiling  in  the 
sex.  In  the  mind  of  the  lowest  savage,  as  in 
the  thought  of  man  in  his  highest  degree  of 
civilisation,  personal  adornment  has  always  oc- 
cupied a  prominent  place,  and  for  such  adorn- 
ment gems  are  most  prized.  The  symbolism 
and  sentiment  of  the  precious  and  semi-precious 
stones,  and  precious  metals,  permeate  literature. 
Jewels  have  their  place  in  the  descriptions  of 
heaven  in  the  sacred  writings  of  almost  every 
people  that  has  attained  to  a  written  language. 

So  wide  and  so  interesting  is  the  subject  of 
precious  stones  and  precious  metals,  their  artis- 
tic treatment  apart  and  combined,  their  im- 
portance in  society,  commerce,  and  the  arts,  their 
part  in  the  wealth  of  individuals  and  nations, 
that  it  is  in  a  high  degree  remarkable  that, 
comparatively  speaking,  so  few  books  have  been 
written  about  them. 

Geology  and  mineralogy  are  the  names  of  the 
sciences  that  concern  themselves  with  minerals 
— among  them  gems — in  the  rough;  metallurgy 


Gems  and  Jewelry  3 

is  the  name  of  the  science  that  has  to  do  with 
metals ;  "  gemology  "  is  a  word  sometimes  used 
to  describe  the  branch  of  art  or  of  the  crafts 
that  deals  with  gems  which  have  passed  through 
the  hands  of  the  diamond  cutter  or  the  lapi- 
dary. The  general  reader  resents  the  disposi- 
tion of  scientific  writers  to  indulge  in  technical 
terminology,  though  the  steady  development  of 
popular  interest  in  pure  science  has  in  some 
measure  reconciled  the  reading  masses  to  a 
sparing  and  judicious  use  of  the  technical  terms 
of  specialists. 

Scientific  hobbies  are  nowadays  common; 
some  take  to  mineralogy,  some  to  botany,  some 
to  entomology.  So  far  as  popularity  is  con- 
cerned, the  scientific  study  of  gems  is,  as  com- 
pared with  the  studies  above  named,  at  a 
disadvantage.  The  novice  adventuring  into  the 
study  of  nature  is  apt  to  be  attracted  by  life 
and  action,  and  his  attention  won  by  the  forms 
that  are  most  beautiful,  as  birds,  butterflies, 
or  wildflowers.  Sometimes  the  adaptability  of 
specimens  to  photography  weighs  heavily  in  the 
scale  of  choice,  or,  perhaps,  the  ease  with  which 
they  can  be  preserved  with  their  natural  bril- 
liancy of  colouring  as  in  the  case  of  moths, 
beetles,  or  the  leaves  of  forest  trees.  The 


4  A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

fascination  of  penetrating  a  realm  difficult  and 
dreaded,  as  the  reptile  kingdom,  or  of  gaining 
new  facts  about  the  life  histories  of  powerful 
or  carnivorous  wTild  beasts  proves  most  potent 
to  some  investigators.  Geology  allures  some 
with  its  prospecting  rambles  and  the  employment 
found  in  classifying  and  installing  specimens  for 
exhibition. 

The  high  intrinsic  value  of  diamonds  and  other 
precious  stones  and  of  precious  metals  and  of 
all  but  the  least  valuable  of  semi-precious  stones, 
in  the  rough  or  in  ore,  prohibits,  for  most  of 
us,  the  possession  of  representative  groups  of 
specimens,  and  men  are  not  apt  to  interest  them- 
selves deeply  in  subjects  that  are  difficult  of 
access  for  the  student  and  observer.  This,  no 
doubt,  is  why  the  sciences  and  the  arts  and  crafts 
immediately  concerned  with  precious  stones  and 
their  settings  can  hardly  be  called  popular. 
Such  being  the  case,  there  is  certainly  a  place 
for  a  book  on  gems  that  will  be  of  substantial 
value  to  the  practical  dealer  in  jewels,  to  the 
designer  of  settings  for  precious  stones,  and  to 
the  general  public  who,  for  a  hundred  different 
reasons,  are  curious  in  regard  to  the  subjects  of 
which  the  work  treats.  It  is  the  author's  hope 
that  the  present  volume  will  meet  the  needs  of 


Gems  and  Jewelry  5 

the  various  classes  of  readers  above  referred  to, 
and  will  at  the  same  time  interest  them  and 
give  them  pleasure. 

And  here  the  author  would  lay  strong  em- 
phasis on  one  point,  namely,  that  the  average 
jewel  merchant  or  salesman  is  badly  handi- 
capped in  his  desire  to  inform  himself  regarding 
"  gemology,"  by  the  lack  of  reliable  and  easily 
accessible  books  concerned  with  matters  of  the 
first  interest  to  him.  There  are,  to  be  sure, 
books,  but  they  are  most  of  them  either  too 
technical  or  too  costly.  The  jewelry  trade  has 
its  journals,  and  the  best  of  these  offer  valuable 
special  information  concerning  the  science  and 
art  of  gems  and  jewelry;  but,  nevertheless,  the 
business  man  lacks  authoritative  books  which 
can  be  understood  by  readers  not  possessed  of 
a  scientific  education.  The  desire  for  a  special, 
yet  not  too  technical,  literature  often  finds  a 
voice  in  the  jewellers'  trade  journals.  For  in- 
stance, in  The  National  Jeweller  and  Optician 
of  April,  1908,  there  is  this  complaint :  "  I 
know  men  in  the  hardware  and  chemical  and 
other  lines  who  have  shelves  of  interesting  books 
about  their  lines  of  commerce  right  at  their 
hands.  This  is  nowhere  the  case  in  our  down- 
town jewelry  district.  In  fact,  no  trade  is 


6  A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

poorer  in  books  on  the  trade  than  the  jewelry 
and  silver  and  art-metal  trades."  And  in  the 
same  issue  the  complaint  is  repeated.  "  It  is 
both  astonishing  and  disappointing,"  says  the 
journal  in  question,  "  that  a  craft  of  such  an- 
tiquity and  interest  as  that  of  jewelry  should 
have  virtually  no  distinctive  literature." 

The  present  volume  is  designed,  as  far  as  it 
may,  to  supply  the  lack  alluded  to,  and  to  give 
the  salesman  and  the  merchant  the  kind  of  in- 
formation which  his  customers  can  fairly  expect 
of  him. 


CHAPTER  II 

CLASSIFICATIONS   OF   PRECIOUS   AND  SEMI-PRECIOUS 
STONES 

THERE  seems  to  be  a  considerable  difference 
of  opinion  among  writers  on  the  subject 
of  gems  as  to  those  stones  which  should  be 
classed  as  precious  and  those  which  should  be 
classed  as  semi-precious.  The  more  scientific 
writers,  from  their  inclination  to  treat  the 
matter  from  the  view-point  of  the  mineralogist, 
appear  to  be  little  influenced  in  their  classifica- 
tions by  the  inexorable  law  of  demand  and  sup- 
ply, or  the  fickleness  of  fashion  and  popular 
favour.  This  book,  being  for  the  many,  will 
present  a  classification  of  the  principal  gems  as 
handled  at  the  period  of  its  publication  by  the 
jewelry  trade  in  America,  and  classified  accord- 
ing to  present  standards  of  popularity,  or  what 
the  authors  believe  to  be  such.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  scale  of  popularity  is  based  upon  per- 
sonal experience  and  observation,  and  upon  the 
opinions  of  leading  American  business  concerns 


8          A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

engaged  in  the  business  of  importing  and 
dealing  in  precious  and  semi-precious  stones,  as 
expressed  in  replies  to  letters  of  inquiry  asking 
for  lists  of  gems  classified  according  to  their 
respective  values  and  the  present  demand  for 
them.  The  great  divergence  of  opinion,  after- 
the  precious  stones  were  set  apart,  was  very  in- 
teresting. The  lists  in  question  were  evidently 
prepared  after  careful  consideration;  with  most 
of  them  there  went  expressions  of  doubt  as  to 
the  propriety  or  correctness  of  the  arrangement. 

Following  my  nomination  of  the  five  precious 
stones,  the  semi-precious  stones  are  divided  into 
four  classes,  the  arrangement  within  each  class 
being  alphabetical,  because  there  appears  to  be 
no  basis  upon  which  it  would  seem  justifiable 
to  give  some  of  these  minor  gems  precedence 
over  others.  A  number  of  stones  clearly  only 
semi-precious,  but  which  are  only  occasionally 
seen  by  jewellers,  are  briefly  covered  in  one 
chapter. 

The  quintet  of  gems  herein  designated  as  pre- 
cious stones  are  accepted  as  such  by  all  authori- 
ties without  dissent,  with  the  exception  that  the 
pearl  is  omitted  by  some  devoted  scientific  min- 
eralogists, because  it  is  not  an  original  mineral. 
Some  writers  increase  the  number  of  precious 


Classifications  of  Stones  9 

stones,  as,  for  instance,  Mr.  W.  R.  Cattelle, 
who  includes  Oriental  cat's-eye,  opal,  turquoise, 
alexandrite,  and  spinel;  the  last,  in  trade  par- 
lance, being  the  Balas  ruby,  and  this  stone,  to 
the  general  public,  is  a  ruby. 
My  classification  is  as  follows: 

THE   PRECIOUS   STONES 

Diamond  ,  ^ 

Emerald  Sapphire       (  C°™ndUm 

Pearl 

SEMI-PRECIOUS  STONES 

CLASS  I 

Alexandrite  Opal  (Precious  or  Noble 

Amethyst  (Siberian)  — of  gem  quality) 

Aquamarine  Oriental    Cat's-Eye    (Cy- 

Chrysolite  (Olivine  and  mophane,  a  variety  of 

Peridot)  Chrysoberyl) 

Kunzite  (Spodumene  or  Topaz   (Brazilian) 

Triphane)  Turquoise 

CLASS  II 

Beryl  Garnet  (Carbuncle,  when 
Chrysoberyl  cut  en  cabochon) 

Chrysoprase  Jade 

Coral  Tourmaline 


io         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 
CLASS  III 

Hyacinth  Moonstone 

Jacinth  Zircon 

Jargoon 

CLASS  IV 

Agate  Labradorite 

Amazonite  Lapiz-lazuli 

Aventurine  Malachite 

Azurite  ,  Onyx 

Bloodstone  Sard  or  Sardonyx 

The  fact  that  there  is  no  standard  classifica- 
tion of  precious  stones  is  curiously  illustrated 
by  the  great  variation  exhibited  by  leading  au- 
thorities on  the  subject.  Mr.  Edwin  W. 
Streeter,  the  famous  English  author  of  books  on 
precious  stones,  after  discussing  the  various  fac- 
tors of  value  in  several  precious  stones,  writes 
in  the  first  chapter  of  his  book  Precious  Stones 
and  Gems,  as  follows: 

It  is  difficult  to  arrange  the  various  Precious 
Stones  in  the  order  of  their  relative  value,  that 
order  being  subject  to  occasional  variation  accord- 
ing to  the  caprice  of  fashion  or  the  rarity  of  the 
stones.  Nevertheless  it  is  believed  that  the  follow- 
ing scheme,  in  which  all  Precious  Stones  are 
grouped  in  five  classes,  fairly  indicates  the  relative 
rank  which  they  take  at  the  present  day. 


Classifications  of  Stones  n 

I.  The  Pearl  stands  pre-eminent.     It  is  true  that 
this  substance,  being  the  product  of  a  mollusc  or 
shell-fish,  is  not  strictly  a  mineral.     It  is,  however, 
so  intimately  related  in  many  ways  with  the  family 
of  true  precious  stones  that  it  properly  claims  a 
place  in  any  classification  such  as  that  under  dis- 
cussion. 

II.  In  the  second   class,  and  therefore  at   the 
head  of  the  group  of  Precious  Stones  proper,  stands 
beyond  all  doubt  the  Ruby. 

III.  Then   comes  the  Diamond.    Many  readers 
may  be  surprised  to  find  the  Diamond  taking  so 
subordinate  a  rank;  but  the  time  has  gone  by  when 
this  stone  could  claim  a  supreme  position  in  the 
market.    At    the    present    day,    the    Jagersfontein 
Mine,  in  South  Africa,  produces  Diamonds  of  pure 
water   rivalling  the   finest  stones   that   were  ever 
brought  to  light  fro^  mines  of  India  or  of  Brazil. 

IV.  In  the  fourth  class  comes  first  the  Emerald, 
then  the  Sapphire,  next  the  Oriental  Cat's-Eye,  and 
afterwards  the  Precious  Opal. 

V.  In  the  fifth  class  may  be  placed  such  stones 
as  the  Alexandrite,  the  Jacinth,  the  Oriental  Onyx, 
the  Peridot,  the  Topaz,  and  the  Zircon.     Some  of 
these,  especially  the  Alexandrite,  are  so  beautiful 
that  they  deserve  a  more  extended  use  in  the  arts 
of  jewelry  than  they  enjoy  at  present. 

After  these  stones  comes  another  class,  which 
may  be  called  the  group  of  Semi-precious  Stones. 
Many  of  these  either  lack  transparency,  or  possess 
it  in  only  very  limited  degree;  while  those  which 
are  pellucid  are  too  common  to  command  more  than 
a  trivial  value.  Such  stones  are  frequently  used 
for  inlaid  work,  or  similar  ornamental  purposes, 


12         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

rather  than  for  personal  decoration.  As  examples 
of  such  stones  may  be  cited  the  Agate,  Malachite, 
and  Rock-crystal. 

Dr.  Max  Bauer,  in  his  great  work  on  precious 
stones,  discusses  in  a  very  interesting  way  the 
motives  of  mineralogists  and  jewellers  in  group- 
ing and  classifying  gems,  and  seems  to  regard 
each  as  perfectly  justified  from  their  different 
view-points.  As  an  example  he  cites  the  classi- 
fication by  K.  E.  Kluge,  the  German  authority, 
as  used  in  his  Handbuch  der  Edelsteinkunde, 
published  in  1860,  wherein  Kluge  distinguishes 
five  groups  of  precious  stones,  characterised  by 
their  value  as  gems,  their  hardness,  optical 
characters,  and  rarity  of  occurrence.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  also  that,  according  to  Bauer, 
Kluge  was  dominated  to  a  large  extent  by  the 
then  market  value  of  the  stones,  probably  in 
Germany,  or  in  the  European  markets  in  general. 

KLUGE'S  CLASSIFICATION 
1.    TRUE  PRECIOUS  STONES  OR  JEWELS 

Distinguishing  characters  are:  great  hardness, 
fine  colour,  perfect  transparency  combined  with 
strong  lustre  (fire),  susceptibility  of  a  fine  polish, 
and  rarity  of  occurrence  in  specimens  suitable  for 
cutting. 


Classifications  of  Stones  13 

A.     Gems  of  the  First  Rank 

Hardness,  between  8  and  10.  Consisting  of 
pure  carbon,  or  pure  alumina,  or  with  alumina 
predominating.  Fine  specimens  of  very  rare 
occurrence  and  of  the  highest  value. 

1.  Diamond  3.  Chrysoberyl 

2.  Corundum  (ruby,  sap- 

phire, etc.)  4.  Spinel 

B.     Gems  of  the  Second  Rank 

Hardness,  between  7  and  8  (except  precious 
opal).  Specific  gravity  usually  over  3.  Silica 
a  prominent  constituent.  In  specimens  of  large 
size  and  of  fairly  frequent  occurrence.  Value 
generally  less  than  stones  of  Group  A,  but  per- 
fect specimens  are  more  highly  prized  than 
poorer  specimens  of  Group  A. 

5.  Zircon  8.  Tourmaline 

6.  Beryl  (emerald,  etc.)  9.  Garnet 

7.  Topaz  10.  Precious  Opal 

C.     Gems  of  the  Third  Rank 

These  are  intermediate  in  character,  between 
the  true  gems  and  the  semi-precious  stones. 
Hardness  between  6  and  7.  Specific  gravity 
usually  greater  than  2.5.  With  the  exception 


14         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

of  turquoise,  silica  is  a  prominent  constituent 
of  all  these  stones.  Value  usually  not  very 
great;  only  fine  specimens  of  a  few  members 
of  the  group  (cordierite,  chrysolite,  turquoise) 
have  any  considerable  value.  Specimens  worth 
cutting  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence,  others 
fairly  frequent. 

11.  Cordierite  16.  Staurolite 

12.  Idocrase  17.  Andalusite 

13.  Chrysolite  18.  Chiastolite 

14.  Axinite  19.  Epidote 

15.  Kyanite  20.  Turquoise 

2.    SEMI-PRECIOUS  STONES 

These  have  some  or  all  of  the  distinguishing 
characters  of  precious  stones,  but  to  a  less 
marked  degree. 

D.     Gems  of  the  Fourth  Rank 

Hardness,  4-7.  Specific  gravity  2-3  (with  the 
exception  of  amber).  Colour  and  lustre  are 
frequently  prominent  features.  Not  as  a  rule 
perfectly  transparent:  often  translucent,  or 
translucent  at  the  edges  only.  Wide  distribu- 
tion. Value,  as  a  rule,  small. 

21.  Quartz  a.  Roek-Crystal 

A.  Crystallised  quartz  b.  Amethyst 


Classifications  of  Stones 


c.  Common  Quartz 
<1.  Prase 

e.  Aventurine 

f.  Cat's-Eye 

g.  Rose-Quartz 
B.  Chalcedony 

a.  Chalcedony 

b.  Agate  (with  onyx) 

c.  Carnelian 

d.  Plasma 

e.  Heliotrope 

f.  Jasper 

g.  Chrysoprase 

C.  Opal 
a.  Fire-Opal 


b.  Semi-Opal 

c.  Hydrophane 

d.  Cacholong 

e.  Jasper-Opal 

f.  Common-Opal 

22.  Feldspar 

a.  Adularia 

b.  Amazon-Stone 

23.  Labradorite 

24.  Obsidian 

25.  Lapis-lazuli 

26.  Hatiynite 

27.  Hypersthene 

28.  Diopside 

29.  Fluor-spar 

30.  Amber 


E.     Gems  of  the  Fifth  Rank 

Hardness  and  specific  gravity  very  variable. 
Colour  almost  always  dull.  Never  transparent. 
Low  degree  of  lustre.  Value  very  insignificant, 
and  usually  dependent  upon  the  work  bestowed 
upon  them.  These  stones,  as  well  as  many  of 
the  preceding  group,  are  not  faceted,  but  worked 
by  the  ordinary  lapidary  in  the  large  stone- 
cutting  works. 


31.  Jet 

32.  Nephrite 

33.  Serpentine 

34.  Agalmatolite 


35.  Steatite 

36.  Pot-stone 

37.  Diallage 

38.  Bronzite 


1 6         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

39.  Bastite  46.  Rhodochrogite 

40.  Satin -spar      (calcite  47.  Hematite 

and  aragonite)  48.  Prehnite 

41.  Marble  49.  Elaeolite 

42.  Satin-spar  (gypsum)  50.  Natrolite 

43.  Alabaster  61.  Lava 

44.  Malachite  52.  Quartz-breccia 

45.  Iron  Pyrites  53.  Lepidolite 

Among  the  stones  enumerated  above  are  some 
that  are  never  worked  as  personal  ornaments, 
and  many  of  them  have  probably  never  been 
heard  of  by  American  jewellers. 

Because  of  the  pre-eminence  of  Dr.  Max 
Bauer's  Precious  Stones,  in  the  realm  which 
that  great  work  so  effectually  covers,  the  ar- 
rangement of  precious  stones  made  by  the  dis- 
tinguished author,  and  followed  throughout  in 
his  work,  is  of  interest.  It  is  as  follows: 

Diamond 

Corundum 

Ruby,  Sapphire,  including  star-sapphire  and 
white  sapphire,  "Oriental  aquamarine," 
"  Oriental  emerald,"  "  Oriental  chrysolite," 
"Oriental  topaz,"  "Oriental  hyacinth," 
"Oriental  amethyst,"  adamantine-spar. 

Spinel 

"  Ruby-spinel,"  "  Balas-ruby,"  "  Alamandine- 
spinel,"  Rubicelle,  Blue-spinel,  Ceylonite. 

Chrysoberyl 


Classifications  of  Stones  17 

Cymophane    ("Oriental   cat's-eye"),   Alexan- 

drite. 
Beryl 

Emerald,    Aquamarine,    "  Aquamarine-chrys- 

olite," Golden  beryl. 
Euclase 
Phenakite 
Topaz 
Zircon 

Hyacinth 
Garnet  Group 

Hessonite  (Cinnamon  stone),  Spessartite,  Al- 
mandine,  Pyrope  (Bohemian  garnet,  "Cape 
ruby,"   and   Rhodolite),   Demantoid,   Gros- 
sularite,   Melanite,  Topazolite. 
Tourmaline 
Opal 

Precious  opal,  Fire-opal,  Common  opal. 
Turquoise 

Bone-turquoise 

Lazulite 

Callainite 
Olivine 

Chrysolite,  Peridot. 
Cordierite  *\t£U 
Idocrase 


Axinite 
Kyauite 
Staurolite 
Andalusite 

Chiastolite. 
Epidote 

Piedmontite  ...    *+s* 
Dioptase 


1 8         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Chrysocolla 
Garnierite 
Sphene 
Prehnite 
Chlorasfolite 
Zonochlorite 
Thomsonite 
Lintonite 
Natrolite 
Hemimorphite 
Calamine 
Felspar  Group 
Amazon -stone,  Sun-stone,  Moon-stone,  Labra- 

dorescent  feldspar,  Labradorite. 
Elseolite  ^  +*1(*JuU 

Cancrinite 
Lapis-lazuli 
Haiiynite 
Sodalite 
Obsidian 

Moldavite 
Pyroxene  and  Hornblende  Group 

Hypersthene    (with  Bronzite,   Bastite,  Dial- 
lage),    Diopside,    Spodumene    (Hiddenite), 
Rhodonite  (and  Lepidolite) ,  Nephrite,  Jade- 
ite^Chloromelanite). 
Quartz. 

Crystallised    quartz:    Rock-crystal,     Smoky- 
quartz,     Amethyst,     Citrine,     Rose-quartz, 
Prase,    Sapphire-quartz,    Quartz    with    en- 
closures, Cat's-eye,  Tiger-eye. 
Compact   quartz:      Hornstone,    Chrysoprase, 

Wood-stone,  Jasper,  Aventurine. 
Chalcedony:      Common  Chalcedony,   Camel- 


Classifications  of  Stones  19 

ian,  Plasma,  Heliotrope,  Agate  with  Onyx, 

etc. 
Malachite 

Chessylite 
Satin-spar   (Fibrous  Calcite,  Aragonite,  and 

Gypsum). 
Fluor-spar 
Apatite 
Iron-pyrites 
Haematite 

Ilmenite 
Eutile 
Amber 
Jet 

In    an   appendix   Dr.    Bauer  places   Pearls   and 
Coral. 


Of  the  authorities  named  as  classifying  gems, 
Bauer  and  Kluge  are  manifestly  moved  by  their 
scientific  instincts,  while  Streeter  was  actuated 
by  popular  demand,  but  responded  to  temporary 
conditions  and  possibly,  although  maybe  uncon- 
sciously, to  personal  interest. 

The  final  test  of  the  rank  of  gems  is  their 
cost  in  the  market,  for  that  tribunal  is  affected 
by  every  factor  and  influence  in  the  case.  The 
five  gems  distinguished  in  this  book  as  "  the 
precious  stones  "  far  outclass  the  gems  in  the 
long  list  that  follows  in  the  test  of  cost,  in  which 
all  their  merits  are  considered  and  summed  up. 


20         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Streeter  exalts  above  all  gems  the  pearl,  the 
mollusc  product  which  Bauer  relegates  with  the 
comparatively  common  coral  to  an  appendix. 
Streeter,  who  is  recognised  as  a  high  British 
authority,  accords  the  ruby  second  place  and 
places  the  diamond  third ;  but  when  he  inscribed 
this  judgment  "  The  Syndicate,"  which  now  in 
his  own  city  of  London  controls  with  the  output 
of  the  South  African  diamond  mines  the  world's 
gem  markets,  did  not  exist.  As  Streeter  was, 
when  he  wrote  his  Precious  Stones  and  Gems, 
expensively  and  hazardously  exploiting  the 
famous  ruby  mines  of  Burma,  he  naturally 
regarded  the  ruby  as  of  prime  importance. 

Kluge's  classification  is  primarily  based  on 
the  degree  of  hardness,  clearly  from  the  view- 
point of  the  strictly  scientific  mineralogist. 
Dr.  Bauer  also  yields  to  the  mineralogical  in- 
fluence, for,  while  he  justly  leads  with  the 
diamond,  following  it  with  the  ruby  and  then 
the  sapphire,  he  continues  by  naming  a  line  of 
gems  seldom  handled,  concluding  with  "  Ada- 
mantine spar,"  a  name  which  some  jewellers 
have  never  heard,  nor  have  they  seen  the  min- 
eral it  specifies.  This  extreme  course  is  pursued 
by  Dr.  Bauer  because  these  several  stones  are 
alike  with  the  ruby  and  the  sapphire  in  being 


Classifications  of  Stones  21 

the  mineral  corundum.  Dr.  Bauer  then  named 
spinel,  and  its  varieties  chrysoberyl  and  cymo- 
phane,  before  reaching  the  noble  emerald. 

Exceptions  may  be  taken  to  the  order  in  which 
semi -precious  stones  are  named  by  the  author 
by  those  whose  individual  experiences  in  trade 
have  differed;  but  it  is  believed  that  the  five 
precious  stones,  and  the  order  in  which  they 
are  named,  represent  the  understanding  of 
American  gem  dealers  and  well-informed  pur- 
chasers, and  that  the  classification  of  the  semi- 
precious stones  fairly  represents  their  general 
popularity. 

Here  it  may  be  said,  in  connection  with  the 
influence  the  value  of  gems  has  in  their  classi- 
fication, that  the  price  of  any  kind  of  precious 
stone,  or  of  individual  specimens,  while  depend- 
ing chiefly  upon  beauty,  durability,  and  similar 
characteristics,  is  governed  also  by  extrinsic 
considerations  such  as  the  law  of  supply  and 
demand  and  many  other  things,  including  fash- 
ions, fads,  and  fancies.  A  common  question 
propounded  to  stone  merchants  is,  What  is  the 
price  of  diamonds,  sapphires,  rubies,  or  other 
gems?  as  though  each  kind  of  stone  had  a  com- 
mon price  in  the  market,  like  October  wheat  or 
steel  billets.  Each  gem  stands  strictly  upon  its 


22         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

own  merits,  and  in  pronouncing  a  valuation  on 
it  the  expert  dealer  takes  into  consideration 
every  one  of  the  several  factors  that  are  apparent 
to  his  keen  and  reflective  examination.  Con- 
sidering the  very  slight  differences  involved,  or 
that  appear  slight  to  the  inexperienced,  it  is  re- 
markable how  nearly  several  different  experts 
will  agree  upon  the  market  value  of  a  stone  upon 
which  each  of  them  renders  an  opinion.  In  the 
following  pages  the  various  precious  and  semi- 
precious stones  will  be  considered  in  the  order 
in  which  they  are  arranged  in  our  own  classifi- 
cation on  pages  9  and  10. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  DIAMOND 

TPHE  diamond  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
•  premier  gem  of  the  world.  Solitary  in  its 
chemical  composition  among  precious  stones,  it 
is  pure  carbon,  a  primary  fact  that  is  not  as 
commonly  known  as  it  should  be  and  is  supposed 
to  be.  It  seems,  indeed,  incongruous  that  such 
common  substances  as  graphite  and  lamp-black 
should  be  the  same,  save  that  they  are  uncrys- 
tallised,  as  this  prince  of  gems;  yet  notwith- 
standing its  humble  connections,  the  diamond, 
in  its  adamantine  lustre,  high  refraction,  reflec- 
tion, and  dispersion  of  light,  and  hardness,  is 
alone  among  minerals.  Despite  its  hardness,  the 
diamond  is  not  indestructible;  diamond  will  cut 
diamond;  it  can  be  burned  in  the  air,  being  car- 
bon, and  will  then  leave  behind  carbon  dioxide 
gas  and,  as  ashes,  an  impurity  called  carbonado. 
The  facets  of  a  cut  diamond  can  be  worn  away 
to  some  extent  by  the  constant  rubbing  of  fab- 
rics, as  is  often  manifest  by  contact  with  wear- 
as 


24         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

iiig  apjMirel.  The  diamond  is  also  brittle  so 
that  it  may  be  easily  fractured,  especially  at  the 
girdle,  by  striking  it  a  blow  against  some  hard 
substance,  and  in  a  steel  mortar  with  a  steel 
pestle  it  may  be  reduced  to  powder.  By  what 
process  in  Nature's  workshop  carbon  was  crys- 
tallised into  the  diamond  is  unknown,  but  scien- 
tific investigators  agree  that  the  process  was 
slow  and  a  prime  factor  was  a  titanic  pressure. 

The  specific  gravity  of  the  diamond  is  3.52; 
hardness,  10;  crystallisation,  isometric;  cleav- 
age, octahedral  and  perfect;  refraction  simple, 
with  an  index  of  2.439;  a  high  dispersive 
power;  lustre,  brilliant  adamantine;  is  combus- 
tible though  infusible;  electric,  positively,  by 
friction  and  a  non-conductor  of  electricity;  it  is 
phosphorescent  and  does  not  polarise  light. 

There  are  three  forms  of  diamonds:  crystal- 
lised, used  as  gems;  crystalline — imperfect  crys- 
tallisation,— harder  than  crystals,  termed  bort  (a 
word  also  applied  to  chips,  waste,  and  stones 
unfit  for  cutting) ;  and  carbonado,  steel  gray  or 
black,  shapeless,  and  without  cleavage. 

To  the  diamond's  surpassing  property  of  dis- 
persing light,  or  dividing  it  into  coloured  rays, 
is  due  that  fascinating  flash  of  prismatic  hues 
termed  its  fire.  The  stone's  wondrous  brilliancy 


The  Diamond  25 

is  due  in  part  to  the  total  reflection  of  light  from 
its  internal  faces  when  the  incident  raj  strikes 
it  at  an  angle  of  a  little  more  than  twenty-four 
degrees.  Colourless  diamonds  are  richest  in 
the  flashing  of  prismatic  hues,  while  in  some 
coloured  specimens  it  is  scarcely  apparent;  at 
the  same  time  by-waters,  yellow-tinged  stones, 
are  sometimes  more  brilliant  in  artificial  light 
than  are  the  colourless  diamonds. 

Diamonds  have  a  wide  range  of  colour;  most 
numerous  are  the  whites,  yellows,  and  browns  in 
a  great  variety  of  shades ;  then  come  the  greens ; 
red  stones  of  strong  tints  are  very  rare,  as  are 
also  blue,  which  have  been  found  almost  ex- 
clusively in  India;  other  tints  of  occasional 
occurrence  are  garnet,  hyacinth,  rose,  peach- 
blossom,  lilac,  cinnamon,  and  brown;  black, 
milky,  and  opalescent  diamonds  are  among  the 
rarities.  Diamonds  without  tint  or  flaw  are 
rare  indeed  and  even  most  of  the  world's  famous 
diamonds  have  imperfections. 

The  origin  of  the  diamond's  name  is  the  Greek 
word  adamas,  meaning  unconquerable;  from  the 
same  root  spring  our  words  adamant  and  ada- 
mantine. 

The  origin  of  the  diamond,  according  to  classi- 
cal mythology,  was  its  formation  by  Jupiter, 


26         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

who  transformed  into  stone  a  man,  Diamond  of 
Crete,  for  refusing  to  forget  Jupiter  after  he  had 
commanded  all  men  to  do  so. 

The  diamond  is  found  in  alluvial  deposits  of 
gravel,  sand,  or  clay,  associated  with  quartz, 
gold,  platinum,  zircon,  rutile,  hematite,  iliiien- 
ite,  chrysoberyl,  topaz,  corundum,  garnet,  and 
other  minerals  appearing  in  granitic  formations ; 
also  in  quartzose  conglomerates,  in  peridotite 
veins,  in  gneiss,  and  in  eruptive  pegmatite. 

The  ancient  source  of  the  world's  supp'^  of 
diamonds  was  exclusively  India;  later  t^neo 
produced  some,  but  up  to  about  the  yearrTOO 
India  was  the  sole  source,  and  from  the  an- 
ciently famous  diamond  district  and  market  of 
Golconda,  between  Bombay  and  Madras,  in  the 
southern  portion,  came  the  Kohinoor,  the  blue 
Hope  Diamond,  and  other  world-famous  gems. 
The  French  traveller  Tavernier  recorded  that  he 
visited  Golconda  in  1665  and  that  sixty  thou- 
sand men  were  employed  there ;  this  field  is  now 
abandoned.  The  modern  diamond  mines  of  In- 
dia are  in  three  principal  localities.  The 
Madras  Presidency  in  Southern  India,  which 
includes  the  districts  of  Kadapah,  Bellary,  Kar- 
nul,  Kistna,  and  Godavari,  and  also  ancient 
Golconda.  The  second  localitr  is  farther  north 


The  Diamond  27 

between  the  Mahanadi  and  Godavari  rivers,  and 
includes  Sambalpur  and  Waigarh  eighty  miles 
south-east  of  Nagpur,  as  well  as  portions  of 
Chutia  Nagpur  province.  Bundelkhand,  Cen- 
tral India,  contains  the  third  region,  the  prin- 
cipal field  being  near  the  city  of  Panna.  The 
product  of  all  the  mines  of  India  has  decreased 
until  now  it  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  world's 

supply- 
Borneo's  fields  produce  annually  about  three 
thousand  carats.  The  basin  of  the  Kapceas 
Rive**?  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Ratoos  Moun- 
ta  ear  the  town  of  Pontianak,  is  the  principal 
locality. 

In  1728  diamonds  were  discovered  in  Brazil. 
They  were  found  by  gold  miners  in  river  sands, 
but  the  finders  did  not  identify  the  curious 
crystals  sometimes  found  in  their  pans  when 
washing  the  sand  for  gold-dust  and  scales.  It 
is  related  that  a  monk  who  had  seen  diamonds 
mined  in  India  recognised  the  characteristics  of 
the  Brazilian  stones.  No  sooner  had  the  news 
of  the  valuable  discovery  reached  the  Portuguese 
than  the  King  of  Portugal  seized  for  the  Crown 
the  lands  known  or  thought  likely  to  be  dia- 
mondiferous.  Near  Diamantina,  in  Minas  Ge- 
raes,  the  diamonds  are  obtained  from  both  river 


28         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

and  prairie  washings.  The  river  deposits  are 
rolled  quartz  pebbles,  mixed  with  or  united  by 
a  ferruginous  clay  of  which  the  usual  founda- 
tion is  talcose  clays.  Associated  minerals  in- 
clude, rutile,  hematite,  ilmenite,  quartz,  kyanite, 
tourmaline,  gold,  garnet,  and  zircon.  The  finest 
stones  result  from  the  prairie  washings,  where 
the  diamonds  occur  in  a  conglomerate  of  quartz 
fragments  overlaid  by  earth  or  sand.  Bagagern 
is  a  productive  locality,  and  there  a  fine  stone 
weighing  2471/£>  carats  was  found.  Abatehe, 
Minas  Geraes,  is  another  important  field.  Dia- 
monds are  also  found  at  Lencaes,  Bahia;  along 
the  river  Cacholira,  chiefly  at  Surua  and  Sinorea, 
and  on  the  Salobro  and  other  branches  of  the 
Pardo  Eiver. 

The  world's  diamond  markets  to-day  are  al- 
most entirely  supplied  by  the  diggings  in  South 
Africa,  where  the  discovery  of  diamonds  was  so 
recent  as  1867.  Children  are  accredited  with 
the  finding  of  the  diamond  in  South  Africa.  A 
Boer  farmer,  Daniel  Jacobs,  had  a  farm  near 
the  present  town  of  Barkly  West  on  the  Vaal 
River.  On  the  river's  strand  were  many  glitter- 
ing and  coloured  pebbles,  the  only  playthings 
the  Jacobs  children  could  get;  these  pebbles  in- 
cluded carnelian,  agates  and  many  varieties  of 


The  Diamond  29 

quartz,  semi-precious  stones  of  some  value  if  cut 
and  marketed  in  far-off  Europe.  Among  the 
pebbles  which  a  little  son  of  the  Boer  Banner 
brought  into  the  house  was  a  small  white  stone 
which  sparkled  so  in  the  sun  that  the  vrou  of 
the  Boer  farmer  noticed  it,  although  she  did  not 
care  sufficiently  to  pick  it  up,  and  only  mentioned 
it  to  a  neighbour,  Schalk  van  Niekirk,  who  asked 
to  see  it.  The  little  white  pebble  had  been 
thrown  out,  but  the  children  found  it  in  the 
dust  of  the  yard.  Van  Niekirk  wiped  the  dust 
from  the  stone  and  found  it  so  interesting  that 
he  offered  to  buy  it,  which  occasioned  some 
mirth,  and  it  was  given  to  him.  With  a  vague 
instinct  that  the  stone  was  unusual  and  had  some 
value,  Van  Niekirk  subsequently  asked  a  travel- 
ling trader,  John  Keilly,  to  see  if  he  could  find 
out  what  it  was  and  if  anybody  would  give  any 
money  for  it.  Several  merchants  in  Hopetown 
and  in  Colesberg  examined  it,  said  it  was  pretty, 
and  one  thought  it  might  be  a  topaz,  but  none 
would  give  a  penny  for  it.  Eeilly  might  have 
thrown  it  away  but  for  a  casual  exhibition  of  the 
pebble  to  Lorenzo  Boyes,  a  Civil  Commissioner 
at  Colesberg,  who,  experimenting,  found  that  the 
pebble  would  scratch  glass,  and  seriously  said  he 
thought  it  was  a  diamond.  A  local  apothecary, 


30         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Dr.  Kirsh,  of  Colesberg,  hearing  the  discussion 
and  examining  the  stone,  bet  Commissioner 
Boyes  a  hat  that  the  stone  was  only  a  topaz. 
The  stone  was  then  sent  for  determination  to 
the  leading  mineralogist  of  the  Cape  Colony, 
Dr.  W.  Guybon  Atherstone,  at  Grahamstown, 
and  it  was  so  lightly  valued  that,  to  save  a 
higher  postage  rate,  it  was  mailed  to  Grahams- 
town  in  an  unsealed  envelope.  The  expert  re- 
ported to  Mr.  Boyes :  "  I  congratulate  you  on 
the  stone  you  have  sent  me.  It  is  a  veritable 
diamond,  weighs  twenty-one  and  a  quarter  ca- 
rats, and  is  worth  five  hundred  pounds.  It  has 
spoiled  all  the  jewellers'  files  in  Grahamstown, 
and  where  that  came  from  there  must  be  lots 
more.  Can  I  send  it  to  Mr.  Southey,  Colonial 
Secretary?  " 

Upon  Dr.  Atherstone's  report  Sir  Philip 
Wodehouse,  the  Governor  at  the  Cape,  bought 
the  rough  diamond  at  Dr.  Atherstone's  valua- 
tion, and  the  diamond  was  sent  to  the  Paris 
Exposition,  where  it  created  interest,  but  no 
great  sensation.  Thus  a  child's  find  was  des- 
tined to  revolutionise  the  world's  diamond 
trade,  alter  the  map  and  the  history  of  South 
Africa,  and  place  the  regulation  of  the  price  of 
the  diamond  in  the  hands  of  a  London  syndicate. 


The  Diamond  31 

v 
The  news  of  the  discovery  set  Boer  farmers 

in  the  Vaal  valley  to  some  desultory  turning 
over  of  river  gravel  in  a  search  for  another 
precious  "  blinke  klippe"  (bright  stone);  but 
it  was  ten  months  before  a  second  diamond  was 
found,  and  this  was  on  a  spot  thirty  miles  away, 
on  the  bank  of  the  river  below  the  junction  of 
the  Vaal  and  Orange  rivers.  In  1868  a  few  more 
small  diamonds  were  picked  up,  and  then,  in 
March,  1869,  a  magnificent  white  diamond  weisrh- 
ing  83.5  carats  was  picked  up  by  a  Griqua  shep- 
herd boy  on  the  farm  Zendfontein,  near  the 
Orange  River.  Schalk  van  Niekirk  made  this 
poor  South  African  native  a  local  Croesus  by 
trading  for  the  stone  five  hundred  sheep,  ten 
oxen,  and  a  horse;  the  thrifty  Boer  sold  the 
diamond  for  nearly  $55,000  to  Lilienfeld 
Brothers  of  Hopetown,  and  Earl  Dudley  later 
bought  this  gem,  now  the  famous  "  Star  of 
South  Africa,"  for  nearly  $125,000. 

After  this,  diamond-hunting  became  more 
than  a  pastime  in  South  Africa.  The  first  sys- 
tematic digging  and  sifting  of  the  alluvial 
ground  of  the  Vaal  valley  was  in  November, 
1869,  by  an  organised  party  of  prospectors  from 
Maritzburg  in  Natal,  initiated  by  Major  Francis 
of  the  British  Army,  then  stationed  at  Maritz- 


32         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

burg,  and  led  by  Captain  Rolleston.  The  sys- 
tematic prospecting  was  begun  at  Hebron,  where 
the  party  was  joined  by  two  experienced  Aus- 
tralian gold  diggers  named  Glenie  and  King, 
and  also  by  a  trader,  named  Parker,  who,  like 
the  Australians,  had  already  been  attracted  to 
the  locality  by  the  reports  of  the  diamonds 
found.  These  prospectors  shovelled  the  river 
gravel  into  cradles  and  pursued  the  methods  of 
placer  washing  in  vogue  in  America  and  Aus- 
tralia. They  toiled  for  many  days  without 
sight  of  a  diamond  or  a  grain  of  gold  dust; 
they  then  followed  the  river  twenty  miles 
down  to  Klip-drift,  opposite  the  Mission  Sta- 
tion at  Pniel;  there  on  January  7,  1870,  they 
found  in  one  of  their  cradles  the  first  small 
diamond,  the  reward  of  expert  methods  in  the 
new  field.  Then  came  the  swarm  of  diamond 
hunters. 

While  the  horde  of  gem  seekers  toiled  and 
suffered  hardships  on  the  Vaal,  De  Klerk,  a  Boer 
overseer  on  Jagersfontein,  the  farm  of  Jacoba 
Magdalena  Cecilia  Visser,  in  a  pretty  green  valley 
near  the  settlement  of  Fauresmith,  in  the  Orange 
Free  State,  observed  garnets  in  the  course  of  a 
little  stream,  and,  having  heard  that  the  diggers 


OX  THE  FLOORS  LOADING  BLUE   EARTH   FOR  THE  WASHING  MACHINES, 
KIMBERLEY  MINES 


DIAMOND   PULSATOR,    DE  BEERS  DIAMOND  MINE  AT  KIMBERLEY, 
SOUTH  AFRICA 


The  Diamond  33 

on  the  Vaal  believed  the  presence  of  garnets  to 
be  an  indication  of  the  probable  proximity  of 
diamonds,  began  prospecting  one  day  in  August, 
1870,  and,  sifting  the  gravel  in  an  ordinary 
wire  sieve,  at  the  depth  of  six  feet  he  found  a 
fine  diamond  of  fifty  carats.  Soon  after,  in  Sep- 
tember, a  still  more  remarkable  discovery  of 
diamonds  was  made  at  Dutoitspan,  on  the  farm 
of  Dorstfontein,  about  twenty  miles  south-east 
of  Pniel;  here  diamond  seeking  merged  into 
diamond  mining,  the  diggers  penetrating  the 
ground  many  feet  and  finding  the  best  stones 
below  the  surface.  Because  of  the  character  of 
the  rotten  rock  encountered  here,  the  miners 
made  open  cuts  instead  of  sinking  shafts.  The 
army  of  diamond  seekers  spread  over  the  adjoin- 
ing ground,  and  early  in  the  year  1871  diamonds 
were  found  at  Bulfontein,  and  early  in  May 
on  De  Beers's  farm;  in  July,  diamond  miners 
were  digging  a  well  for  water  and,  seventy-six 
feet  below  the  surface,  a  well-digger  was  amazed 
to  see  a  magnificent  diamond,  which  proved 
afterward  to  weigh  eighty-seven  carats,  spark- 
ling on  the  wall  of  the  well.  This  location 
was  then  called — because  of  the  great  massing 
of  prospectors  there — New  Rush  or  Colesberg 


34         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Kopje;  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  now  world- 
famous  Kimberley  mine  and  the  South  African 
mining  metropolis  of  Kimberley. 
j  From  this  event  until  1904,  the  whole  history 
of  South  African  diamond  mining  has  been  ably 
and  thoroughly  covered  in  the  copiously  illus- 
trated and  valuable  book  of  Gardner  F.  Wil- 
liams, M.A.,  entitled  The  Diamond  Mines  of 
South  Africa.  Mr.  Williams  was  long  the  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated 
Mines,  Ltd.,  and  by  experience  and  known  capa- 
city is  the  recognised  authority  upon  this  im- 
portant subject  in  the  realm  of  gem  history. 

A  description  of  the  financiering  which  re- 
conciled warring  interests  and  heterogeneous 
human  elements,  to  which  was  added  a  genius 
for  management  which,  through  science  in 
chemistry,  mineralogy,  mechanics,  and  business 
system,  attained  the  highest  degree  of  economic 
production  and  marketing,  is  not  the  least 
fascinating  chapter  in  the  wonderful  story  of 
the  diamond  in  South  Africa.  The  history  of 
the  contest  between  Briton  and  Boer,  and  all 
else  that  grew  out  of  the  discovery  of  diamonds 
on  the  Vaal,  cannot  be  told  here;  but  the  mod- 
ern methods  of  extracting  the  rough  diamonds 
from  the  blue  ground  in  which  they  have  rested 


The  Diamond  35 

encased  for  ages  is  pertinent  and  worthy  of  some 
space  in  even  so  compact  a  book  as  the  present. 

The  diamond-bearing  blue  earth  from  the 
mines  is  automatically  dumped  into  ore  bins 
and  thence  conveyed  in  trucks  drawn  by  endless 
wire  rope  and  impelled  by  steam  to  the  deposit- 
ing floors  on  the  receiving  grounds,  which  are 
planed  and  rolled  hard  as  if  for  use  as  tennis 
courts  or  brick  drying  floors.  The  De  Beers 
mine  floors  are  rectangular  sections,  six  hun- 
dred yards  long  and  two  hundred  yards  wide, 
and  extend  for  four  miles;  each  floor  holds 
about  fifty  thousand  truck  loads,  a  full  load 
weighing  about  sixteen  hundred  pounds;  spread 
out  until  about  a  foot  in  thickness,  such  a  load 
covers  about  twenty-one  square  feet.  In  this 
great  area  of  blue  earth  lie  the  invisible  dia- 
monds, for,  although  some  of  the  rough  dia- 
monds may  be  as  large  as  walnuts,  persons 
walking  over  the  blue  earth  have  almost  never 
seen  one.  Weathering  disintegrates  the  breccia 
or  blue  earth,  which  process  is  carried  and  hast- 
ened by  wheeled  harrows  drawn  by  steam  trac- 
tion engines.  Rain  accelerates  this  weathering 
process  and  drought  retards  it.  The  blue 
ground  from  Kimberley  mine  becomes  well  pul- 
verised in  six  months,  with  the  favourable  con- 


36         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

dition  of  a  heavy  summer  rainfall,  while  the 
De  Beers  earth  under  similar  conditions  re- 
quires a  year's  time.  About  five  per  cent,  of 
the  De  Beers  mine  blue  ground  is  intractable; 
this,  in  large  pieces,  is  removed  to  be  reduced 
by  crushers  and  rolls  in  the  method  commonly 
used  for  mineral  ores.  When  thoroughly  dis- 
integrated the  blue  ground  is  hauled  to  the 
washing  machines  to  enter  the  first  stage  of 
concentration.  Automatic  feeders  supply  the 
washing  machines  and  the  wet  mixture  from 
them  goes  through  chutes  into  a  revolving  cylin- 
der perforated  with  holes  one  and  one  quarter 
inches  in  diameter;  lumps  too  large  to  pass 
through  these  outlets  emerge  from  the  ends  of 
the  cylinders  by  way  of  a  pan  conveyor  to 
crushing  rolls.  The  pulverised  ground  which 
passes  through  the  perforations  is  fed  into  shal- 
low circular  pans,  where  the  contents  are  swept 
around  by  revolving  arms,  tipped  with  wedge- 
shaped  teeth,  on  a  vertical  shaft,  which  forces 
the  diamonds  and  other  heavy  minerals  to  the 
outer  side  of  the  pan,  while  the  thin  mud  is 
discharged  near  the  centre  through  an  outlet 
into  which  it  is  guided  by  an  inner  rim.  The 
concentrates  go  from  this  process  into  trucks 
with  locked  covers  in  which  they  are  conveyed 


ONE   DAY'S   DIAMOND    WASH   AT   THE   KIMBERLEY   MINES 


SORTING  THE  GRAVEL  FOR  DIAMONDS  AT  THE  KIMBERLEY    MINES 


The  Diamond  37 

to  the  pulsator,  where  they  are  sifted  into  five 
sizes,  ranging  from  one  sixth  to  five  eighths  of 
an  inch  diameter,  and  passed  into  a  combination 
of  jigs  or  pulsators  with  stationary  bottoms 
covered  with  screens  with  square  meshes  a  little 
coarser  than  the  perforated  plates  of  the  cyl- 
inders that  size  the  concentrate  for  the  jigs. 
Upon  the  jig  screens,  a  layer  of  leaden  bullets 
for  the  finer  sizes  and  of  iron  bullets  for  the 
coarser  sizes  is  spread,  forming  a  bed  that 
prevents  the  deposit  from  passing  through 
the  screen  too  rapidly.  The  heaviest  part  of  the 
deposit,  with  the  diamonds,  passes  through  the 
screens  into  pointed  boxes  from  which  the  de- 
posit is  drawn  off  and  taken  to  the  sorting 
tables.  The  refuse  goes  to  the  tailing  heap. 

But  one  per  cent,  of  the  total  amount  of  blue 
ground  washed  goes  to  the  pulsator,  and  fifty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  this  flows  over  the  jigs  as 
waste.  Numerous  experiments  were  unsuccess- 
fully made  to  effect  the  separation  of  the  dia- 
monds from  the  worthless  concentrates  in  a  less 
tedious  and  expensive  way  than  sorting  them 
by  hand,  when  a  De  Beers  employee,  Fred 
Kirsten,  suggested  coating  a  shaking  or  percus- 
sion table  with  grease;  and  this  resulted  in  the 
notable  discovery  that  diamonds  only,  of  all 


38         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

the  blue  ground  minerals,  adhered  to  grease, 
while  all  else  would  flow  off  with  water  as 
tailings.  The  improved  shaking  tables  now 
used  at  the  South  African  mines  are  corrugated, 
and  while  a  first  table  fails  to  detain  one  third 
of  the  diamonds  a  second  table  recovers  these, 
almost  to  the  last  diamond;  so  that  this  inven- 
tion is  practically  as  certain  in  its  accomplish- 
ments as  the  human  eye  and  hand,  while 
proving  a  great  economy  in  its  operation.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  also  that  these  greased 
shaking  tables  will  hold  other  precious  stones 
of  high  specific  gravity  and  hardness.  The 
diamonds  which  are  heavily  coated  with  grease, 
of  about  the  consistency  of  axle  grease,  by 
their  experience  with  this  process,  are  cleaned 
by  boiling  them  in  a  solution  of  caustic  soda. 
The  quantity  of  deposit  (diamonds)  which 
reaches  the  sorting  tables  equals  but  one  cubic 
foot  in  192  cubic  feet. 

From  the  sorting  tables  the  diamonds  are 
taken  daily  to  the  general  office  under  an  armed 
escort  and  delivered  to  the  valuators  in  charge 
of  the  diamond  department.  These  experts 
clean  the  diamonds  of  extraneous  matter  by 
boiling  them  in  a  mixture  of  nitric  and  hydro- 
chloric acids,  or  in  fluoric  acid.  When  cleaned 


The  Diamond  39 

the  stones  are  carefully  assorted  according  to 
size,  colour,  and  purity,  and  made  up  in  parcels 
ready  for  shipping. 

^The  marketing  of  diamonds,  if  fully  told,  is 
a  story  in  itself  and  possesses  many  phases  of 
interest.  Formerly  local  buyers,  who  repre- 
sented the  leading  diamond  merchants  of  the 
world,  competed  at  the  South  African  mines 
for  their  product,  but  for  the  past  several  years 
the  De  Beers  Company  has  sold  in  advance  its 
annual  production  to  a  syndicate  of  London 
diamond  merchants  who  have  representatives 
residing  in  Kimberley,  and  this  is  now  the 
medium  through  which  both  the  product  of  the 
De  Beers  and  the  Premier  mines  exclusively 
reach  the  markets  of  the  different  nations  of 
the  world. 

The  daily  production  of  diamonds  is  put  away 
in  parcels  until  there  has  accumulated  about 
fifty  thousand  carats  of  De  Beers  and  Kim- 
berley diamonds,  the  stones  from  the  two  sources 
being  mixed,  and  locally  termed  "  pool  goods." 
The  sorters  separate  and  classify  them  for  ac- 
curate valuation  as  follows:  1,  Close  goods; 
2,  Spotted  stones;  3,  Rejection  cleavage;  4,  Fine 
cleavage;  5,  Light-brown  cleavage;  6,  Ordinary 
and  rejection  cleavage;  7,  Flats;  8,  Naats; 


40         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

9,  Rubbish;  10,  Bort.  In  the  language  of  the 
diamond  producers  "  Close  goods "  are  pure 
stones  of  desirable  shapes;  "Spotted  stones" 
are  crystals  slightly  spotted ;  and  "  Rejection  " 
stones  are  those  seriously  depreciated  by  spots. 
"  Cleavage  "  means  broken  stones.  "  Flats  " 
are  flat  crystals  formed  by  the  distortion  of 
octahedral  crystallisation;  and  flat  triangular 
crystals — twin  stones — are  "maacles."  The  re- 
fuse is  classed  as  "rubbish,"  and  common  bort 
or  "  boart "  is  polishing  material,  while  round, 
or  shot,  bort,  found  at  Kimberley,  is  now  valuable 
for  diamond  drill  points,  since  Brazilian  carbo- 
nado has  become  scarce. 

The  first  eight  classes  are  further  subdivided 
according  to  shades,  as:  Blue  White,  First 
Cape,  Second  Cape,  First  Bye,  Second  Bye,  Off 
Colour,  Light  Yellow  and  Yellow.  Only  the 
"  close  "  or  first  grade  is  actually  assorted  ac- 
cording to  these  eight  shades;  with  the  other 
grades  the  sorters  are  less  particular.  The  ten 
expert  sorters,  all  Europeans,  use  no  magnify- 
ing glasses  in  their  determinations,  which  are 
achieved  with  marvellous  accuracy  and  rapidity. 
The  assorted  diamonds  are  divided  into  little 
heaps  on  a  long  table  covered  with  white  paper; 
the  number  of  diamonds  and  their  average 


The  Diamond  41 

weights  and  values  are  recorded.  The  buyers 
for  the  syndicate  of  Holborn  Viaduct  and  Hat- 
ton  Garden,  diamond  importers  of  London,  pay 
for  their  diamonds  at  the  De  Beers  Company's 
South  African  diamond  office  in  cash  or  bills 
of  exchange  on  London. 

Upon  receiving  the  stones  the  buyers  sort 
them  over  to  comply  with  the  requirements  in 
London,  after  which  the  diamonds,  now  in  from 
three  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred  parcels, 
each  in  a  specially  made  paper  inscribed  with 
a  description  of  its  contents,  are  packed  in  tin 
boxes  and  these  are  securely  wrapped  in  cloth- 
lined  packing  paper,  carefully  sealed  and  de- 
livered to  the  post-office,  which  forwards  them 
to  Europe  as  registered  mail,  the  diamonds  all 
being  insured  during  transit  in  European  in- 
surance companies.  The  syndicate's  buyers 
classify  the  goods  thus  shipped  as  follows: 
Pure  goods,  Brown  goods,  Spotted  goods,  Flat- 
shaped  goods — all  completely  formed  or  crys- 
tallised stones;  Pure  cleavage,  Spotted  cleavage, 
Brown  cleavage — broken  or  split  stones;  Naats 
or  Maacles — flat  triangular  crystals  or  twin- 
stones;  Rejections  or  Bort — diamonds  not 
adapted  to  or  worthy  of  cutting  and  used 
chiefly  for  splitting  and  polishing  higher  grade 


42         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

stones.  The  higher  classes  of  these  are  sub- 
divided into  six  or  seven  shades  and  each  colour 
is  again  subdivided  into  from  eight  to  twelve 


When  the  diamonds  arrive  in  London,  they 
are  once  more  reasserted  according  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  trade.  The  purchasers  are 
dealers  in  rough  diamonds,  dealers  in  brilliants 
who  have  their  purchases  cut  and  polished  for 
sale,  and  manufacturers  who  cut  and  polish  the 
goods  for  their  own  trade,  not  depending  upon 
the  regular  diamond-cutting  industry. 

The  selling  methods  of  the  famous  London 
Syndicate  are  peculiar.  The  different  interests 
present,  or  represented  by  experts  in  the  Lon- 
don market,  are  notified  that  a  "  sight "  of  the 
goods  ready  to  be  disposed  of  will  be  afforded 
on  a  certain  date.  The  man  who  contemplates 
buying  for  himself  or  as  a  representative  is 
compelled  by  the  regulations  of  this  strange 
market  to  declare  his  intentions  and  to  make 
application  to  the  absolute  powers  in  control 
of  the  situation,  weeks  in  advance  of  the  time 
when  a  "  sight "  of  the  merchandise  is  expected, 
for  the  precious  opportunity  to  buy. 

When  the  favoured  business  man  is  admitted 
to  a  view  of  the  goods,  if  he  does  not  buy,  he  is 


The  Diamond  43 

penalised  by  being  omitted  from  the  purchasing 
list  for  six  months. 

The  United  States  of  America  is  about  the 
only  nation  that  levies  a  duty  on  diamonds, 
under  the  present  tariff,  ten  per  cent,  on  cut 
diamonds,  while  the  rough  are  admitted  free. 
The  London  Syndicate  assorts  the  diamonds  ac- 
cording to  qualities,  and  in  general,  the  Ameri- 
can cutters  purchase  the  best.  The  finest 
quality,  the  stones  of  the  purest  water,  are 
brought  here  by  American  importers  and  cut 
in  American  establishments  in  a  way  to  satisfy 
Americans,  the  most  critical  buyers  of  diamonds 
in  the  world,  who  demand  the  best  effects,  re- 
gardless of  waste  in  diamond-cutting.  Even 
the  imported  cut  goods  are  frequently  recut 
here. 

The  other  great  market  for  diamonds  is  Am- 
sterdam in  Holland.  The  industry  of  cutting 
diamonds  which  originated  in  India,  and  first 
appeared  in  Europe  in  the  town  of  Bruges — 
where  it  was  initiated  by  the  Dutch  lapidary, 
Ludwig  van  Berquen,  who  invented  his  par- 
ticular process  in  the  year  1476 — was  afterward 
centred  in  Antwerp,  Belgium.  After  a  struggle 
for  the  supremacy,  however,  Amsterdam  became 
the  chief  centre  of  the  industry,  although  it 


44        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

never  succeeded  in  monopolising  it,  even  in  Eu- 
rope. Max  Bauer  states  in  his  book,  completed 
in  1896,  that  the  diamond-cutting  industry  in 
Amsterdam  comprised  seventy  establishments 
equipped  with  modern  appliances  with  steam  as 
motive-power;  the  industry  gave  employment 
to  twelve  thousand  persons;  one  establishment 
had  four  hundred  and  fifty  grinding  machines 
and  about  one  thousand  employees  and  in  all 
there  were  in  the  diamond  city  about  seven 
thousand  grinding  machines  (skaifs)  in  opera- 
tion. American  diamond  buyers,  or  jewellers 
whose  interest  in  that  which  pertains  to  their 
business  leads  them  to  visit  Amsterdam,  the 
diamond  city,  while  abroad,  usually  come  via 
Cologne.  Amsterdam's  principal  hotel  is  a 
rendezvous  for  diamond  importers. 

A  financial  transaction  is  said  to  have  had 
much  to  do  with  enriching  Amsterdam  through 
locating  there  the  centre  of  the  diamond-cutting 
and  polishing  industry  and  making  it  one  of 
the  world's  two  greatest  diamond  markets ;  some 
rough  diamonds  deposited  in  an  Amsterdam 
bank  centuries  ago  as  collateral  for  a  loan  were 
ordered,  by  the  bank  officials,  to  be  cut.  One 
of  the  reasons  why  diamond-cutting  as  an  in- 
dustry is  firmly  established  in  Europe  is  that 


The  Diamond  45 

there  banks  make  loans  on  diamonds  as  col- 
lateral. 

During  the  fourteenth  century  Amsterdam  was 
an  asylum  for  refugee  merchants  from  Brabant ; 
but  its  enduring  prosperity  did  not  begin  until 
the  sixteenth  century,  after  the  ruination  of 
Antwerp  by  Spain.  The  population  of  Am- 
sterdam, according  to  a  census  taken  in  1905, 
was  551,415  and  it  is  now  the  chief  Dutch 
money  market,  the  home  of  the  Bank  of  The 
Netherlands,  the  diamond-polishing  and  cutting 
industry  and  cobalt  blue  manufactories  being 
its  main  industrial  interests.  The  principal 
square  of  the  city  is  the  "  Dam,"  and  canals 
and  well-shaded  streets  help  to  make  the  city 
picturesque.  Places  to  see  in  Amsterdam  are 
the  Koyal  Palace,  a  not  particularly  impres- 
sive building  of  four  stories  and  painted  blue; 
the  "  Seaman's  Loop,"  a  kind  of  sailors'  club 
on  one  side  of  the  "  Dam,"  and  the  Ryk's 
Museum,  which  houses  some  interesting  evi- 
dences of  Dutch  industries  as  well  as  much 
historical  material.  There  are  some  exhibits  of 
jewelry,  gold  and  silver  plate,  and  art  metal 
work  that  prove  interesting  to  the  visiting 
foreign  jeweller. 

But  the  great  feature  of  the  city  in  the  eyes 


46         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

of  the  world,  its  diamond  trade,  is  environed 
in  an  unpretentious  street  about  one  city  block 
in  length,  called  Tulp  Straat;  many  of  the 
buildings  were  dwellings  now  converted  into 
office  buildings.  The  many  incongruities  here 
include  the  existence  of  a  dominant  spirit, 
a  species  of  the  genus  boss,  an  untitled  ruler 
of  the  diamond  trade,  who  is  a  character  worthy 
a  description  by  Dickens. 

A  New  York  diamond  merchant  at  Amster- 
dam was  strolling  through  the  city's  streets  with 
this  gentleman  when  he  stopped  before  the 
bulletin  board  of  a  Dutch  newspaper  and  read 
with  great  interest  some  very  startling  head- 
lines. The  New  Yorker  waited  patiently  to 
hear  what  the  evening  edition  of  an  Amsterdam 
daily  newspaper  was  purveying  to  its  phlegmatic 
patrons,  but  the  untitled  ruler  of  the  diamond 
trade  only  said  musingly,  "  Well,  you  Americans 
certainly  are  a  great  people." 

"  Why,  what  have  we  done  now?  "  asked  the 
American. 

"  A  great  people ;  certainly  a  great  people," 
reiterated  the  Hollander. 

"  Say,  what  is  it?  "  impatiently  demanded  the 
man  from  Maiden  Lane. 

"  Why,  the  whole  city  of  Baltimore  is  burned 


THE  GREAT  CULLINAN  DIAMOND,   IN  THE  ROUGH 
Actual  size 


The  Diamond  47 

up;  when  you  Americans  do  anything  you  cer- 
tainly always  do  it  on  a  large  scale,"  replied 
the  admiring  Amsterdammer. 

The  ways  of  marketing  diamonds  to  the  world 
are  as  peculiar  in  Amsterdam  as  they  are  in 
London.  After  the  diamonds  are  cut,  and 
polished  in  the  factories  by  Amsterdam's  ten 
thousand  workmen,  they  are  vended  through 
commissioners  or  through  brokers.  There  is  a 
general  meeting  ground,  a  sort  of  exchange,  and 
there  buyers  and  brokers  come  together.  The 
space  is  inadequate  and  sometimes  an  overflow 
meeting  of  fifty  or  more  men  are  clamouring 
for  admittance.  When  they  view  the  mer- 
chandise and  learn  the  prices  quoted,  the  buyer 
who  sees  something  he  wants  makes  an  offer; 
the  broker  encloses  the  parcel  bid  upon  in  a 
sealed  envelope  with  the  offer  made  by  the 
buyer  written  upon  it  and  submits  this  to 
owners  or  persons  interested  in  selling  the 
goods;  it  is  optional  for  the  owner  to  accept  or 
decline  the  offer,  but  if  he  does  accept  it,  and 
thereafter  the  bidder  should  announce  that  he 
had  usurped  the  feminine  privilege  of  change- 
ing  his  mind,  he  will  find  that  he  must  make 
good  his  offer  or  suffer  a  legal  penalty,  which 
might  be  a  term  of  imprisonment.  The  dia- 


48         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

mond  brokers  of  Amsterdam  receive  a  commis- 
sion from  both  the  seller  and  buyer. 

In  Antwerp  the  principal  diamond  dealers 
have  their  offices  in  their  homes  and  usually 
the  business  is  transacted  there,  or,  in  some 
cases,  the  buyers  take  the  goods  with  them  to 
their  hotels  "  on  memorandum "  for  leisurely 
examination  before  deciding  upon  their  pur- 
chases. 

The  major  event  of  gem  history  in  the  year 
1908  was  the  cutting  at  Amsterdam  of  the  great 
Cullinan  diamond,  destined  to  become  the 
brightest  jewel  in  the  British  crown.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  here  mentioned  that  said 
crown  was  already  of  great  weight — thirty-nine 
ounces  and  five  pennyweights — a  handicap  that 
His  Majesty  King  Edward  VII.  probably  does 
not  relish  on  the  rare  state  occasions  when  he 
must  submit  to  having  it  rest  upon  his  head, 
as,  for  example,  when  it  becomes  his  annual 
royal  duty  and  prerogative  to  formally  open 
Parliament.  The  crown,  which  usually  rests  in 
the  Tower  of  London,  contained,  prior  to  ad- 
ditions from  the  Cullinan  Diamond,  two  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  eighteen  diamonds  and 
two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  pearls,  besides 
many  other  rare  and  exquisite  jewels.  Before 


The  Diamond  49 

its  eclipse  by  the  Cullinan  Diamond,  the  chief 
gem  ornamenting  the  crown  was  a  ruby,  valued 
according  to  an  estimate  at  about  f  500,000 ;  this 
famous  gem  is  the  one  presented  to  the  Black 
Prince  by  Spain,  in  the  year  1367,  and  was  worn 
by  Henry  V.  in  his  helmet  at  the  battle  of 
Agincourt. 

The  royal  regalia  are  safely  deposited  in  a 
chamber  of  the  Wakefield  Tower  in  the  Tower 
of  London.  The  valuable  addition  resulting 
from  the  partitions  of  the  Cullinan  Diamond 
added  nothing  to  the  precautions  against  theft 
which  previously  existed.  The  crown  jewels 
are  thoroughly  lighted  and  guarded  by  night 
and  by  day,  never,  for  an  instant,  being  exempt 
from  the  scrutiny  of  armed  and  uniformed 
sentries.  The  jewels  are  kept  in  a  glass  case 
within  a  double  cage  of  steel,  and  cleaned  semi- 
annually  under  the  supervision  of  high  officers 
of  the  British  realm.  The  Cullinan  Diamonds 
were  on  November  1,  1908,  delivered  to  their 
Majesties,  King  Edward  and  Queen  Alexandra, 
at  Windsor  Castle  by  Mr.  Joseph  Asscher  of 
the  Amsterdam  firm  which  successfully  cut  the 
famous  stone.  Two  secret  service  men  of  the  Hol- 
land government,  accompanied  by  several  Scot- 
land Yard  detectives,  guarded  Mr.  Asscher's 


5o         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

every  movement  against  the  possible  attacks  of 
thieves.  In  the  following  month  the  Cullinans 
were  conveyed  to  the  Tower  by  a  closely  guarded 
royal  messenger  in  a  motor  car,  and  placed 
with  the  regalia  beside  a  model  of  the  Kohi- 
noor.  Since  then  the  British  public  and  visit- 
ors from  all  parts  of  the  world  have  curiously 
viewed  the  famous  gems. 

There  was  disappointment  among  the  dia- 
mond cutters  and  in  the  gem  trade  in  England 
when  it  was  decided  to  send  the  Cullinan  Dia- 
mond to  Amsterdam  to  be  cut;  the  great  dis- 
tinction was  conferred  upon  the  house  of  J. 
Asscher  &  Co.,  of  Amsterdam  and  Paris,  whose 
"fabriek,"  or  factory  is  in  the  Tulp  Straat  or 
"  Tol-straat,"  as  it  is  sometimes  written,  of 
Holland's  capital.  The  stone  was  delivered  to 
the  Amsterdam  firm  in  January,  1908,  where 
for  nine  months  it  was  kept  in  the  vault,  of 
which  the  walls  of  concrete  and  steel  are  over 
two  feet  thick.  On  February  10th  the  stone 
was  split  by  Mr.  Joseph  Asscher  under  the 
supervision  of  Messrs.  M.  J.  Levy  &  Nephews, 
precious  stone  experts,  retained  to  additionally 
assure  the  best  scientific  methods  in  the  opera- 
tions in  which  so  vast  a  sum  in  values  was 
involved.  The  stone  was  first  cleft  in  two 


IMPLEMENTS  USED  IN  CLEAVING  THE  ROUGH    CULLINAN  DIAMOND 


ROOM  WHERE  THE  CULLINAN  DIAMOND  WAS  CUT   AND  POLISHED, 
AMSTERDAM,   HOLLAND 


The  Diamond  51 

pieces  by  Mr.  Asscher  in  such  a  way  that  a 
defective  spot  in  the  diamond  was  exactly  in 
the  centre,  leaving  a  part  of  it  on  each  piece  of 
the  stone.  Subsequently  the  larger  of  these  two 
pieces  was  split. 

The  United  States  consul  at  Amsterdam,  Mr. 
Henry  H.  Morgan,  forwarded  to  Washington 
the  best  account  of  the  splitting  operation  that 
the  author  has  read.  After  emphasising  the 
delicacy  of  the  work  Mr.  Morgan  described  the 
making  of  an  incision  in  the  stone  with  a  dia- 
mond-cutting saw  at  the  point  where  the  stone 
was  to  be  cleaved  and,  following  the  line  of 
cleavage,  to  a  depth  of  nearly  three  quarters  of 
an  inch.  Before  the  operator  were  crystal 
models,  cleaved  to  represent  the  effect  upon  the 
diamond  so  far  as  could  be  indicated  in  such 
a  manner.  In  the  incision  made  by  the  dia- 
mond saw  a  specially  made  steel  knife,  comb 
shaped,  without  a  handle,  was  inserted;  then, 
while  the  supervisors  and  several  members  of 
the  house  of  Asscher  intently  and  breathlessly 
looked  on,  Mr.  Asscher  struck  the  blade  on  its 
back  with  a  steel  rod  and,  with  the  success  of 
the  operation  still  in  doubt,  all  saw  the  steel 
knife  break  against  the  adamant;  again  the 
stroke  and  with  a  chorus  of  sighs  of  relief  the 


52         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

diamond  fell  in  two  parts,  divided  exactly  as 
the  expert  had  planned.  The  two  parts  weighed, 
respectively,  1040!/2  carats  and  1977^  carats. 
The  larger  piece  was  successfully  divided  late 
in  February,  after  which  the  grinding  and 
polishing  continued  until  November.  The  Lon- 
don Times  on  November  10,  1908,  published  the 
first  authentic  description  of  the  finished  Culli- 
nan  Diamonds  as  follows: 


<^  In  the  original  state  the  Cullinan  Diamond 
weighed  3253%  English  carats,  or  over  1  1/3  pounds" 
avoirdupois.  It  is  now  divided  as  follows:  (1)  a 
pendeloque  or  drop  brilliant,  weighing  SIG1/^  carats, 
dimensions,  2.322  inches  long  and  1.791  inches 
broad;  (2)  a  square  brilliant,  weighing  309  3/18 
carats,  1.771  inches  long  by  1.594  broad;  (3)  a 
pendeloque,  weighing  92  carats;  (4)  a  square  bril- 
liant, 62  carats;  (5)  a  heart-shaped  brilliant,  18% 
carats;  (6)  a  marquise  brilliant,  11^4  carats;  (7) 
a  marquise  brilliant,  8  9/16  carats;  (8)  a  square 
brilliant,  6%  carats;  (9)  a  pendeloque,  4  9/32 
carats;  (10)  96  brilliants,  weighing  7%  carats; 
and  (11)  a  quantity  of  unpolished  "ends,"  weigh- 
ing 9  carats. 

The  first  and  second  of  these  stones  are  by  far 
the  largest  in  existence.  Even  the  second  is  much 
bigger  than  the  largest  previously  known  brilliant, 
viz.,  the  Jubilee,  weighing  239  carats,  while  beside 
either  of  them  so  famous  a  jewel  as  the  Kohinoor 
sinks  into  comparative  insignificance,  since  its 


The  Diamond  53 

weight,  102%  carats,  is  little  more  than  one  third 
of  that  of  the  smaller,  or  one  fifth  that  of  the 
larger.  Moreover,  the  stones  are  not  more  dis- 
tinguished for  size  than  for  quality.  All  of  them, 
from  the  biggest  to  the  smallest,  are  absolutely 
without  flaw  and  of  the  finest  extra  blue-white 
colour  existing. 

As  regards  the  two  largest,  an  innovation  was 
made  in  the  manner  of  cutting.  Normally  a  bril- 
liant has  58  facets.  In  view,  however,  of  the  im- 
mense size  of  the  two  largest  Cullinan  brilliants,  it 
was  determined  to  have  an  increased  number,  and 
to  give  the  first  74  facets  and  the  second  66.  This 
decision  has  been  abundantly  vindicated  by  the 
results,  for  the  stones  exhibit  the  most  marvellous 
brilliancy  that  diamonds  can  show.  This  fact  is 
all  the  more  remarkable  and  satisfactory  because 
very  large  brilliants  are  apt  to  be  somewhat  dull 
and  deficient  in  fire. 

This  monumental  diamond  was  found  Janu- 
ary 27,  1905,  on  the  brink  of  the  open  workings 
of  mine  No.  2  of  the  new  (Transvaal)  Premier 
mines,  near  Pretoria,  South  Africa,  by  the  man- 
ager of  the  mines,  Mr.  Frederick  Wells,  an  old 
employee  of  the  Kimberley  mines.  While  mak- 
ing his  rounds  of  inspection  Mr.  Wells's  eye 
caught  a  gleam  in  some  debris  and,  investiga- 
ting, he  perceived  that  it  was  undoubtedly  a 
large  diamond;  placing  his  find  in  the  pocket 
of  his  sack  coat  he  took  it  to  the  company's 


54         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

office  and  its  importance  was  quickly  realised. 
The  stone  was  weighed  and  found  to  register 
exactly  3253%  carats.  Immediately  the  news 
was  transmitted  by  telegraph  and  cable  to  all 
parts  of  the  world  that  the  world's  greatest 
diamond  had  been  discovered.  The  stone  was 
christened  "  The  Cullinan  Diamond  "  after  Mr. 
T.  N.  Cullinan,  the  chairman  of  the  Premier 
(Transvaal)  Diamond  Company.  At  the  in- 
stance of  Premier  Botha,  the  Transvaal  As- 
sembly presented  the  great  diamond  to  King 
Edward  VII.  in  recognition  of  his  granting  a 
constitution  to  the  Transvaal  Colony.  As 
stated,  the  diamond,  rough,  weighed  32533/4 
carats,  and  measured  four  by  two  and  one-half 
by  one  to  two  inches.  The  stone  had  four 
cleavage  planes,  which  led  experts  to  surmise 
that  other  pieces  of  the  same  stone  are  still  in 
the  mines.  To  one  who  was  not  familiar  with 
diamonds  the  great  diamond  nearly  resembled 
a  piece  of  ice. 

The  occurrence  of  this  stone  is  interesting 
because  it  was  in  a  locality  that  many  experts 
regarded  as  a  place  of  meagre  possibilities,  as 
compared  with  the  steadily  producing  mines  at 
Kimberley.  Diamonds  had,  indeed,  been  found  in 
both  the  alluvial  along  the  Vaal  River  and  in  allu- 


The  Diamond  55 

vial  and  in  pipes  at  Rietfontein,  near  Pretoria. 
The  properties  of  the  Transvaal  Mining  Com- 
pany, now  the  Montrose,  were  discovered  in 
1898,  as  were  also  those  of  the  Schuller  Com- 
pany; both  producing  diamonds  in  profitable 
quantity,  although  not  comparably  with  the 
mines  at  Kimberley.  The  Premier  (Transvaal) 
Diamond  Mining  Company  was  registered  on 
December  1,  1902,  with  a  capital  of  £80,000,  so 
that  it  had  been  in  existence  but  about  two  years 
when  it  gave  the  world  its  record  diamond. 
The  Boer  War  interfered  with  the  development 
of  the  mines  in  the  Transvaal.  During  the 
year  1899  four  companies  were  registered.  After 
the  occupation  of  the  Transvaal  by  the  British, 
forty-eight  companies  were  registered  in  the 
years  1902  and  1903  with  an  aggregate  capital 
of  nearly  £2,000,000  sterling. 

The  new  Premier  mines  are  discussed  by  Mr. 
Gardner  F.  Williams  in  his  The  Diamond  Mines 
of  South  Africa,  in  which  he  expresses  doubt 
that  the  rich  alluvial  diggings  which  resulted 
from  the  open  works  initiated  there  betokened 
rich  diamond  bearing  pipes  of  blue  ground.  Al- 
though the  reports  of  the  company  showed  a 
large  total  yield  for  the  number  of  loads  of 
ground  sent  to  the  washing  machines,  it  is 


56         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

pointed  out  that  the  ground  sent  was  sorted 
ground,  while  that  upon  which  Kimberley  statis- 
tics are  based  was  not.  Mr.  Williams  stated : 

The  average  value  of  the  diamonds  per  carat  for 
eleven  months  was  27s.  4d.  The  quality  of  the 
diamonds  in  the  Pretoria  District  is  poor,  the  per- 
centage of  bort  and  rubbish  being  abnormally 
great.  Valued  on  the  same  basis,  diamonds  from 
the  Pretoria  District  are  worth  only  about  fifty- 
four  per  cent,  of  those  from  De  Beers  and  Kim- 
berley mines. 

It  is  always  the  unexpected  that  happens  in 
diamond-seeking.  The  premises  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams and  the  other  experts,  who  may  from  per- 
sonal interest  have  been  subconsciously  inclined 
to  make  comparisons  between  Kimberley  and 
Transvaal  mines  unfavourable  to  the  latter, 
however  sound  and  scientific,  held  forth  small 
encouragement  to  expect  great  things  from  the 
new  Premier  mines;  which,  after  all,  have  pro- 
duced a  single  gem  that  outshines  anything  that 
the  Kimberley  mines  ever  produced. 

Until  its  sun  was  eclipsed  by  the  revelation 
of  the  Cullinan  Diamond,  the  largest  diamond 
which  the  earth  has  given  to  man  was  the 
Excelsior,  which  was  ultimately  named  the  Ju- 
bilee in  honour  of  the  celebration  of  the  sixtieth 


The  Diamond  57 

anniversary  of  the  accession  of  the  late  Queen 
Victoria.  The  Excelsior-Jubilee  was  discovered 
in  the  Jagersfontein  mine  in  the  Orange  River 
Colony,  June  30,  1893.  The  lucky  Kaffir  who 
discovered  it  was  rewarded  with  about  $2500  in 
money,  and  a  horse  equipped  with  a  saddle  and 
bridle.  The  rough  stone  weighed  971%  carats, 
measured  two  and  one-half  inches  in  length, 
two  inches  in  breadth,  and  one  inch  in  thick- 
ness. Like  the  Cullinan  Diamond,  its  predeces- 
sor had  a  fault  that  prevented  its  becoming  a 
single  gem;  this  was  a  black  spot  in  the  centre 
which  made  it  necessary  to  cleave  it,  as  the 
Cullinan  was  cleaved.  The  larger  portion  was 
cut  into  an  absolutely  perfect  brilliant,  weigh- 
ing 239  international  carats  of  205  milligrams 
and  measuring  one  and  five-eighths  inches  in 
length,  one  and  three-eighths  in  breadth,  and 
one  inch  in  depth.  The  Excelsior-Jubilee  is  a 
blue- white  stone  of  the  purest  water  and  in  all 
its  qualities  approximates  perfection.  This  dia- 
mond's predecessor  in  holding  the  world's  record 
for  weight  and  size,  in  the  rough,  was  the 
"  Great  Mogul "  which  is  supposed  to  have 
weighed  787^  carats.  The  history  of  this  stone 
is  obscure  and  so  tainted  with  tradition  that  the 
references  to  it  in  the  various  stories  of  the 


58         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

great  diamonds  of  the  world  are  of  doubtful 
authority. 

The  romance  of  gem  history  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  accepted  account  of  that  acme  of  fine 
diamond  qualities,  the  Regent  or  Pitt  diamond. 
Mr.  Ludwig  Nissen,  a  New  York  authority  on 
gems  and  who  talks  and  writes  in  an  interest- 
ing way  about  them,  offers  the  following  nar- 
rative as  authentic : 

^  The  Pitt  Diamond,  afterward  called  the  "  Regent," 
was  found  by  a  slave  in  the  Parteal  mines,  on  the 
Kistua  in  India,  in  the  year  1701.  The  story  goes 
that,  to  secure  his  treasure,  he  cut  a  hole  in  the 
calf  of  his  leg  and  concealed  it,  one  account  says 
in  the  wound  itself,  another  in  the  bandages.  As 
the  stone  weighed  410  carats  before  it  was  cut, 
the  last  version  of  the  method  of  concealment  is, 
no  doubt,  the  correct  one.  The  slave  escaped  with 
his  property  to  the  coast.  Unfortunately  for  him- 
self, and  also  for  the  peace  of  mind  of  his  con- 
fidant, he  met  an  English  skipper  whom  he  trusted 
with  his  secret.  It  is  said  he  offered  the  diamond 
to  the  mariner  in  return  for  his  liberty,  which  was 
to  be  secured  by  the  skipper  carrying  him  to  a 
free  country.  But  it  seems  probable  that  he  sup- 
plemented this  with  a  money  condition  as  well, 
otherwise  the  skipper's  treatment  of  the  poor 
creature  is  as  devoid  of  reason  as  it  is  of  hu- 
manity. The  English  skipper,  professing  to  accept 
the  slave's  proposals,  took  him  on  board  his  ship, 
and  having  obtained  possession  of  the  gem,  flung 


The  Diamond  59 

the  slave  into  the  sea.  He  afterwards  sold  the 
diamond  to  a  prominent  dealer  for  a  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  squandered  the  money  in  dissipa- 
tion, and  finally,  in  a  fit  of  delirium  tremens  and 
remorse,  hanged  himself. 

The  dealer  sold  it  in  February,  1702,  to  Thomas 
Pitt,  Governor  of  Fort  St.  George,  and  great- 
grandfather of  the  illustrious  English  statesman, 
William  Pitt,  for  the  sum  of  £20,400.  Pitt  had  the 
stone  cut  and  polished  at  a  cost  of  £5000,  but  the 
c'eavage  and  dust  obtained  in  the  cutting  returned 
to  him  the  handsome  'sum  of  £15,000.  In  1717  he 
sold  it  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Regent  of  France, 
during  the  minority  of  King  Louis  XV.,  for  the 
sum  of  £135,000;  so  that  he  must  have  netted  a 
profit  of  nearly  £125,000  on  his  venture. 

Later,  in  the  inventory  of  the  French  crown 
jewels,  drawn  up  in  1791,  it  was  valued  at 
12,000,000  francs,  or  $2,400,000.  Soo'n  afterwards, 
during  the  "  Paris  Commune,"  it  was,  with  other 
valuable  jewels,  stolen  and  buried  in  a  ditch  to 
prevent  its  recovery.  One  of  the  robbers,  however, 
on  a  promise  of  a  full  pardon,  later  revealed  its 
hiding-place,  and  it  was  found.  All  of  the  criminals 
were  sent  to  the  scaffold,  except  the  one  who  had 
turned  informer. 

The  recovery  of  the  "  Regent "  is  claimed  to  have 
helped  to  put  the  first  Napoleon  upon  the  throne 
of  France,  by  having  enabled  him,  through  pledg- 
ing it  to  the  Dutch  government,  to  raise  sufficient 
funds  to  make  a  success  of  the  Marengo  campaign. 
Since  its  redemption  from  the  Dutch  government 
it  has  served  as  an  ornament  in  the  pommel  of  the 
First  Emperor's  sword,  and  has  ever  been  the  most 


60         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

conspicuous  gem  of  the  crown  jewels  of  France. 
It  now  quietly  rests  to  meet  the  wondering  eyes 
of  the  world's  tourists  in  the  Galerie  d'Apollon  in 
the  Louvre,  Paris. 

Though  a  rich  and  valuable  treasure,  the  "  Pitt " 
or  "  Regent "  has  unquestionably  been  the  cause  of 
more  misery  than  joy.  It  sent  the  first  dishonest 
holder  to  a  watery  grave,  the  second  to  the  rope,  and 
the  third,  which  consisted  of  several,  to  the  guillo- 
tine; though  it  also  restored  the  fortunes  of  an 
ancient  English  family,  which  subsequently  gave  to 
England  her  most  distinguished  statesman,  and  is 
said  to  have  helped  in  the  creation  of  an  empire 
and  in  the  making  of  one  of  the  world's  most 
famous  characters. 

The  most  recently  discovered  diamond  field 
that  holds  forth  promise  of  an  output  sufficient 
to  affect  the  world's  market  for  diamonds  is  in 
Germany's  colonial  possessions  in  southwest 
Africa,  and  if  it  results  in  great  wealth  for  the 
Fatherland  it  will  be  warmly  welcomed  as  a 
compensation  in  part  for  the  millions  that  Ger- 
many's exploitation  of  the  region  has  cost, 
chiefly  because  of  intractable  warring  natives. 
The  new  field  is  near  Liideritz  Bay,  and  a 
remarkable  feature  is  that  the  diamonds  are 
found  separately  in  a  coarse  sand.  Twelve  of 
the  best  stones  among  the  first  found  were  sent 
as  a  gift  to  Emperor  William  by  his  loyal  sub- 


The  Diamond  61 

jects,  the  colonists.  Never  before  was  the  mar- 
keting of  precious  stones  so  carefully  planned 
in  advance  of  their  production.  The  output  will 
be  strictly  limited,  following  the  policy  of  the 
English  Syndicate,  and  the  mining  will  be  closely 
regulated  by  the  German  government.  The  an- 
nual product  is  expected  to  reach  about  140,000 
carats.  The  syndicate  is  reported  to  be  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  leading  German 
banks  and  various  combinations  of  speculative 
investors  in  diamond  corporation  shares ;  among 
them  are  the  Lenz-Stauch-Nissien  group,  the 
Berlin  Commercial  Co.,  and  Kohnanskop  group. 
The  last  is  of  minor  importance  and  is  con- 
trolled by  Englishmen.  It  is  agreed  that  all 
stones  are  to  be  sent  to  Ltideritz  Bay,  where 
they  will  be  taken  by  the  syndicate.  The  com- 
panies that  deliver  will  receive  at  once  a  part 
payment  to  cover  cost  of  mining.  The  stones 
will  be  weighed,  packed,  and  sent  to  Berlin 
under  the  owners'  names,  where  they  will  be 
sorted  and  sold  and  owners  credited  with  the 
profit. 

No  definite  arrangements  have  been  made  to 
establish  a  German  diamond  market.  It  seems 
improbable  that  either  Hanau  or  Frankfort  will 
be  considered.  Berlin  seems  to  meet  all  the 


62         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

requirements.  The  syndicate  has  not  decided 
whether  it  will  limit  itself  to  the  selling  of  un- 
cut stones  or  whether  it  will  go  into  the  cut- 
ting business.  In  the  latter  case  the  Hanau 
cutters  will  undoubtedly  receive  consideration. 
Concerning  this  matter  a  delegation  from  Hanau 
was  assured  by  a  representative  of  the  Berlin 
Commercial  Co.  that  Hanau  would  obtain  its 
share.  At  present  the  cutting  establishments 
of  that  city  can  cut  5000  carats  a  month,  but 
this  number  cannot  be  increased  without  great 
difficulty,  as  both  skilled  cutters  and  establish- 
ments are  lacking.  The  expectation  is  that  the 
syndicate  will  work  hand  in  hand  with  the 
London  syndicate. 


CHAPTER  IV 

EMERALDS 

.  CMERALD  is  now  but  a  general  trade  de- 
*"J  signation  for  various  green  precious  and 
semi-precious  stones  and  not,  in  the  jewelry 
trade,  the  specific  term  of  any  gem  mineral. 
Beryl,  of  the  accepted  green  emerald  hue,  is 
the  true  or  standard  emerald.  In  the  view  of 
the  mineralogical  experts  of  the  United  States 
National  Museum,  recognition  is  accorded  to 
five  other  varieties  of  "  emeralds  " ;  they  are : 
Brazilian-tourmaline,  Congo-dioptase,  Evening- 
olivine,  Oriental-corundum,  and  Uralian-gar- 
net.  The  green  beryl,  excepting  in  its  colour,  is 
the  same  mineral  as  aquamarine,  golden,  and 
other  variously  coloured  beryls.  One  of  the 
rarest  of  gems  is  a  flawless  emerald-hued  beryl. 

The  crystallisation  of  the  beryl  is  in  the 
hexagonal  system,  usually  long,  and  often  hav- 
ing the  prism  faces  more  or  less  deeply  striated 


64         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

vertically.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  trans- 
parent flawless  beryl  is  2.73,  usually  2.69  to 
2.70;  hardness,  7.5  to  8;  brittle;  cleavage  indis- 
tinct; fracture  uneven  to  conchoidal;  lustre 
vitreous,  sometimes  resinous.  Beryl  colours 
include  emerald  green  to  pale  green,  pale 
blue,  pale  yellow,  honey,  wine  and  citrine  yel- 
low, white,  and  pale  rose-red.  Pleochrism  is 
unusually  distinct,  sometimes  strong,  in  the 
emerald  especially,  which  through  the  dichroi- 
scope  reveals  two  different  shades  of  green. 

Beryl  includes  the  emerald,  aquamarine,  go- 
shenite,  and  davidsonite.  The  differences  are 
principally  in  colour. 

Beryl  is  a  silicate  of  the  metals  aluminium 
and  beryllium,  containing  the  oxide  alumina  in 
small  amount,  which  is,  however,  a  more  im- 
portant constituent  in  corundum,  spinel,  and 
chrysoberyl.  There  is  some  variation  in  beryl 
from  different  localities;  the  chemist  Lewy,  who 
analysed  the  beautiful  emerald  beryl  that  is 
found  at  Muzo  in  Colombia,  South  America, 
found:  silica,  67.85;  alumina,  17.95;  beryllia, 
12.4;  magnesia,  0.9;  soda,  .07;  water,  1.66;  and 
organic  matter  0.12,  besides  a  trace  of  chromic 
oxide.  An  analysis  of  a  specimen  of  aquama- 
rine from  Adun-Chalon  in  Siberia  by  Penfield 


gi 

g 


Emeralds  65 

resulted  in:  silica,  66.17;  alumina,  20.39; 
beryllia,  11.50;  ferrous  oxide,  0.69;  soda,  0.24; 
water,  1.14,  and  a  trace  of  lithia. 

The  only  acid  which  will  attack  beryl,  so  far 
as  has  been  discovered,  is  hydrofluoric  acid. 
Before  the  blowpipe  beryl  becomes  white,  cloudy, 
and  fuses,  but  only  with  difficulty,  at  the  edges 
to  a  white  blebby  glass. 

Beryl,  like  all  other  hexagonal  crystals,  is 
bi-refringent,  but  only  to  a  small  extent.  The 
beauty  of  beryl,  therefore,  depends  not  upon  a 
play  of  prismatic  colours,  but  upon  unusually 
strong  lustre  and  a  fine  body-colour.  The 
bright  grass-green  beryl  is  the  emerald ;  the  pale 
varieties  are  styled  precious  or  noble  beryl. 
Aquamarine  is  pale-blue,  bluish-green,  or  yellow- 
ish-blue; the  yellowish-green  variety  is  called 
aquamarine-chrysolite;  jewellers  call  the  yellow 
variety  beryl  and  the  pure  golden-yellow  golden 
beryl.  The  dichroism  of  all  transparent  vari- 
eties of  beryl  can  often  be  discerned  with  the 
eye  unaided  by  the  dichroiscope ;  this  property 
usually  suffices  to  clearly  distinguish  beryl 
from  any  imitations.  A  curious  characteristic 
of  the  emerald  beryl  is  that  its  colour  is  by  no 
means  always  uniformly  distributed  through  the 
body  of  the  stone;  the  different  coloured  por- 


66         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tions  may  occur  in  layers  or  irregularly;  when 
in  layers  the  layers  are  usually  perpendicular 
to  the  faces  of  the  prisms. 

The  high  esteem  in  which  choice  emeralds  are 
held  and  the  high  cost  of  this  gem  are  due  in 
great  part  to  the  rarity  with  wrhich  a  gem  ap- 
proximating perfection  occurs.  Most  of  the 
grass-green  beryl  crystals  are  cloudy  and  dull; 
these  disqualifications  are  due  to  fissures  and 
cracks,  but  also  to  infinitesimally  small  en- 
closures of  foreign  matter,  either  fluid  or 
solid,  such  as  scales  of  mica.  When  clouded 
by  fissures  emeralds  are  called  by  jewellers 
"  mossy." 

A  "perfect"  (approximately  of  course)  em- 
erald-beryl stone  is  worth  nearly,  sometimes 
fully,  as  much  as  a  fine  natural  ruby  and  more 
than  a  diamond — that  is,  a  stone  of  one  carat 
or  thereabouts, — while  large  stones  are  so  rare 
that  they  bring  fancy  prices  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  their  size.  The  average  emerald  beryl 
fit  for  cutting  is  but  a  small  stone.  Tradition 
and  unscientific  accounts  tell  of  phenomenally 
large  emeralds,  but  one  of  the  largest  and  finest 
actually  known  to  exist  belongs  to  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire;  this  is  a  natural  crystal,  measur- 
ing two  inches  across  the  basal  plane,  and 


Emeralds  67 

weighs  8  9/10  ounces,  or  1350  carats;  in  colour, 
transparency,  and  structure  it  is  almost  with- 
out a  fault.  This  fine  stone  was  found  in  the 
emerald  mines  at  Muzo  in  Colombia,  South 
America.  Another  large  crystal  known  belongs 
to  the  Czar  of  Eussia;  its  measurements  are 
reported  to  be  twenty-five  centimetres  (nearly  ten 
inches)  in  length  and  twelve  centimetres  in 
diameter. 

The  character  of  each  piece  of  the  rough  beryl 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  lapidary  decides 
what  cut  shall  be  applied  to  an  emerald.  Small 
stones  are  usually  cut  as  brilliants  or  rosettes, 
while  the  large  ones  are  sometimes  cut  as  a  sim- 
ple table  stone,  or  more  generally  step-cut  with 
brilliant  facets  on  the  upper  portion.  Cut  gems 
of  good  colour  and  transparency  are  mounted 
in  an  open  setting;  paler  stones  were  formerly, 
in  Europe,  reinforced  with  a  green  foil  beneath 
them,  while  fissured  or  faulty  stones  were 
mounted  in  an  encased  setting  with  the  bottom 
blackened.  As  natural  crystals  of  beryl  are 
large  the  gems  are  often  extracted  from  the 
mass  by  expert  and  skilful  artisans  who  saw  the 
crystals  into  the  desirable  sizes. 

The  emerald  beryl  might  be  truly  said  to  be 
a  precious  stone  of  strong  individuality,  for, 


68         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

besides  its  characteristic  of  an  uneven  and  ir- 
regular distribution  of  colour,  it  is  unique  geo- 
logically, for  it  occurs  exclusively  in  its  primary 
situation,  that  is,  in  the  rock  in  which  it  was 
formed.  It  is  one  of  the  minerals  characteris- 
tic of  crystalline  schists,  and  is  frequently 
found  embedded  in  mica  schists  and  similar 
rocks.  The  magnificent  beryls  found  at  Muzo, 
Colombia,  however,  are  an  exception;  there  the 
emeralds  are  embedded  in  calcite  veins  in  lime- 
stone. Emeralds  are  never  found  in  gem 
gravels,  like  diamonds,  rubies,  sapphires,  and 
other  precious  stones. 

The  ancient  source  of  the  emerald  was  Ethi- 
opia, but  the  locality  is  unknown.  From  upper 
Egypt,  near  the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea  and  south 
of  Kosseir,  came  the  first  emeralds  of  historic 
commerce.  There  is  a  supposition  that  the 
emerald  beryl  was  first  introduced  commercially 
into  Europe  just  prior  to  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury from  South  America.  Emeralds  had  been 
found  before  this,  however,  in  the  wrappings  of 
Egyptian  mummies  and  in  the  ruins  of  Pompeii 
and  Herculaneum.  Ancient  Egyptian  emerald 
mines  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Red  Sea  were 
rediscovered  about  1820  by  a  French  explorer, 
Cailliaud,  on  an  expedition  organised  by 


Emeralds  69 

Mehemet  Ali  Pasha ;  the  implements  found  there 
date  back  to  the  time  of  Sesostris  (1650  B.C.). 
Ancient  inscriptions  tell  that  Greek  miners  were 
employed  there  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  the 
Great;  emeralds  presented  to  Cleopatra,  and 
bearing  an  engraved  portrait  of  the  beautiful 
Egyptian  queen,  are  assumed  to  have  been  taken 
from  these  mines.  Cailliaud,  under  permission 
of  Mehemet  Ali,  reopened  the  mines,  employing 
Albanian  miners,  but,  it  is  supposed  because 
only  stones  of  a  poor  quality  were  found,  the 
work  was  soon  and  suddenly  given  up. 

The  Spanish  conquistadores  found  magnifi- 
cent emeralds-  in  the  treasure  of  both  Peru  and 
Mexico,  but  none  are  now  found  in  those  coun- 
tries. An  immense  quantity  of  emeralds,  many 
of  them  magnificent,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
which  are  probably  still  in  existence  in  Europe, 
was  sent  to  Spain  from  Peru.  The  only  place 
in  the  new  world  that  the  Spanish  found 
emeralds  by  prospecting  for  them  in  the  earth, 
was  in  Colombia  or  New  Granada;  perhaps  the 
gems  of  the  Aztec  sovereigns  and  the  Incas  came 
from  there. 

The  Spaniards  first  learned  of  the  existence 
of  the  Colombian  emeralds  on  March  3,  1537, 
through  a  gift  of  emeralds  by  the  Indians,  who, 


70        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

at  the  same  time,  pointed  out  the  locality  from 
which  they  were  taken;  this  spot,  Somondoco, 
is  now  being  mined  by  an  English  corporation, 
although  only  second-class  stones  have  been 
found  there  by  these  modern  emerald  miners. 
Muzo,  where  the  present  supply  of  the  world's 
finest  emeralds  is  mined,  is  about  one  hundred 
miles  distant  in  the  eastern  Cordilleras  of  the 
Andes  on  the  east  side  of  the  Kio  Magdalena 
in  its  northward  course.  The  only  other  local- 
ity of  importance  where  emerald  beryls  are  now 
found  is  about  fifty  miles  east  of  Ekaterinburg 
in  the  Ural  Mountains,  Siberia,  where  Uralian 
chrysoberyl,  or  alexandrite,  is  found.  The 
grass-green  beryl  is  also  found  in  an  almost  in- 
accessible locality  in  the  Salzburg  Alps. 

Fine  emeralds  have  been  found  in  the  United 
States,  the  most  notable  locality  at  Stony  Point 
in  Alexander  County,  North  Carolina,  but  the 
supply  at  this  place  seems  to  be  exhausted. 

The  name  "emerald"  applied  indiscriminately 
to  green  transparent,  translucent,  and  even 
opaque  stones,  complicates,  to  the  inexpert, 
everything  about  the  emerald  question;  for  in- 
stance, it  was  long  assumed  that  emeralds  came 
from  Brazil  and  green  stones  were  called  "  Bra- 
zilian emeralds."  There  is  no  authentic  proof 


Emeralds  71 

that  a  true  emerald  was  ever  found  in  Brazil, 
and  it  is  supposed  that  green  tourmalines  found 
there  account  for  the  "  Brazilian  emerald " 
myth.  In  ancient  times  the  name  emerald  was 
applied  to  green  jasper,  chrysocolla,  malachite, 
and  other  green  minerals.  There  is  still  a  cus- 
tom of  calling  stones  other  than  beryl  "emerald," 
with  an  explanatory  prefix.  Thus,  Oriental 
emerald  is  green  corundum ;  "  lithia  emerald  "  is 
hiddenite,  a  green  mineral  of  the  pyroxene  group 
occurring  associated  with  the  emerald  beryl  in 
North  Carolina.  "Emerald-copper"  is  dioptase, 
the  beautiful  green  silicate  of  copper.  Among 
the  green  minerals  sometimes  sold  under  the 
name  of  emerald  are:  the  green  corundum,  de- 
mantoids,  or  green  garnets,  hiddenite,  diopside, 
alexandrite,  green  tourmaline,  and  sometimes 
chrysolite  and  dioptase.  These  minerals  are  all 
of  higher  specific  gravity  than  beryl  and  all  can 
be  distinguished  from  beryl  emeralds  by  tests 
possible  to  the  scientific  gem  expert. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   PEARL 

TN  its  purity,  liquid  beauty,  and  charm  of 
*  romantic  and  poetical  association  the  pearl 
— aristocrat  of  gems — leads  even  its  peers  of 
the  highest  rank,  the  diamond,  emerald,  ruby, 
and  sapphire.  The  sea-gem  has  throughout  all 
recorded  time  formed  the  fitting  necklace  of 
feminine  royalty  and  famous  beauty;  the  state 
decorations  of  dusky  Oriental  potentates  and 
their  principal  treasures  have  been  pearls.  From 
the  ocean's  bed  and  the  turgid  streams  of  mid- 
land North  America,  from  almost  anywhere 
that  is  the  habitat  of  the  oyster  or  the  humble 
mussel  come  these  pale,  lustrous  treasures  that 
may  prove  to  be  almost  priceless.  The  exist- 
ence and  recognition  of  the  beauty  of  the  pearl 
as  a  personal  ornament  and  treasure  is  undoubt- 
edly prehistoric  on  every  continent.  The  dis- 
coverers and  conquistadores  from  old  Spain 
found  quantities  of  them  in  the  western  Indies, 

on  the  Spanish  Main,  in  Florida,  Mexico,  and 

72 


The  Pearl  73 

Peru;  the  mound-builders  of  North  America 
possessed  them;  in  the  far  East  they  were 
cherished  centuries  before  the  then  Western 
world  of  Europe  knew  them;  there  is  said  to 
be  a  word  meaning  a  pearl  in  a  Chinese  dic- 
tionary four  thousand  years  old,  and  who  knows 
how  old  is  their  presence  in  India. 

Pearls  were  in  the  jewel  caskets  of  Egypt's 
Ptolemies;  and  the  first  jewel  mentioned  in  the 
most  ancient  decipherable  and  translatable  writ- 
ings extant  is  the  pearl,  and  its  identity  is  un- 
questioned, because  the  gem  of  the  sea  is  solitary 
among  jewels  and  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  hard  mineral  gems  which,  even  to-day,  with 
all  the  advance  in  scientific  knowledge,  are  con- 
stantly becoming  mixed  in  the  minds  of  men. 
From  written  records  the  modern  ken  of  pearls 
extends  back  about  twenty-three  hundred  years, 
and  we  hear  of  them  in  the  writings  of  Pliny, 
the  indefatigable  investigator  and  disseminator 
of  what  he  believed  to  be  facts  about  almost 
everything  in  nature,  who  four  hundred  years 
later  gathered  together  the  knowledge  of  his 
day  about  pearls  and  included  it  in  his  volumi- 
nous literary  grist. 

In  the  technical  literature  of  the  United 
States  National  Museum,  the  pearl  is  coldly 


74        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

and  remorselessly  comprehended  under  the  gen- 
eric term  "  carbonate  of  lime  "  along  with  the 
beautiful  but  less  valued  coral,  which  is  also  a 
product  of  the  sea;  and  marble,  which  concerns 
architects  and  sculptors,  more  than  gem  fan- 
ciers; and  calcite  and  aragonite,  which  are 
varieties  of  satin  spar  and  far  down  in  the  gem 
stone  scale  of  hardness.  It  seems  almost  like 
desecration  to  reduce  the  lustrous  pearl  of 
peerless  beauty  and  royal  and  romantic  associa- 
tions to  the  concrete  mineralogical  base  of 
carbonate  of  lime;  but  thus  are  the  insistent 
requirements  of  the  mineralogists  conserved. 
Therefore,  pearls  are  concretions  of  carbonate  of 
lime  found  in  the  shells  of  certain  species  of 
molluscs.  An  irritation  of  the  animal's  mantle 
promotes  an  abnormal  secretory  process,  the 
cause  of  the  irritation  being  the  introduction 
into  the  shell  of  some  minute  foreign  substance, 
sometimes  a  grain  of  sand. 

The  lustre  of  pearls  is  nacreous,  which  means 
resembling  mother-of-pearl,  a  lustre  due  to  the 
minute  undulations  of  the  edges  of  alternate 
layers  of  carbonate  of  lime  and  membrane.  The 
lustre  of  some  pearls  exists  only  on  the  surface ; 
the  outer  surface  of  others  may  be  dull  and  the 
inner  lustrous.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  pearl 


The  Pearl  75 

is  2.5  to  2.7;  hardness,  2.5  to  3.5.  The  shape 
varies  and  the  range  of  size  and  weight  is 
great.  The  smallest  pearl  in  commerce  is  less 
than  the  head  of  a  pin ;  the  largest  pearl  known 
is  in  the  Beresford  Hope  collection  in  the 
Museum  at  South  Kensington,  London.  Its 
length  is  two  inches  and  circumference  four  and 
a  half  inches.  It  weighs  three  ounces  (1818 
grains). 

Although  the  whiteness  of  the  pearl  is  con- 
stantly used  for  comparison,  pearls  range  in 
colour  from  an  opaque  white  through  pink, 
yellow,  salmon,  fawn,  purple,  red,  green,  brown, 
blue,  black,  and  in  fact  every  colour  and  sev- 
eral shades  of  each;  some  pearls  are  also  iri- 
descent. The  colour  and  lustre  are  generally 
that  of  the  interior  shell  surface  against  which 
the  pearl  was  formed. 

The  beauty  and  value  of  the  pearl,  in  brief, 
depend  upon  colour,  texture,  or  "  skin  "  trans- 
parency or  "  water,"  lustre,  and  form ;  pearls 
most  desired  are  round  or  pear-shaped,  without 
blemish,  and  having  the  highest  degree  of  lustre. 
The  queen  of  existing  pearls  is  La  Pellegrina 
now  in  the  Museum  of  Zosima,  Moscow,  Russia. 
La  Pellegrina  is  perfectly  round  and  of  an 
unrivalled  lustre.  It  weighs  112  grains. 


76         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

While  individual  pearls  or  strands  of  them 
may  be  worth  a  prince's  ransom,  their  beauty 
and  value  are  not  immutable;  pearls  may  de- 
teriorate with  age  or  be  sullied  by  the  action 
of  gases,  vapours,  or  acids,  and  the  known 
methods  for  their  restoration  to  their  original 
appearance  and  value  are  not  always  success- 
ful. Fine  pearls  should  be  carefully  wiped 
with  a  clean  soft  cloth  after  they  have  been 
worn  or  exposed,  and  kept  wrapped  in  a  similar 
fabric  in  a  tightly  closed  casket. 

Pearls  are  found  in  nearly  all  bivalves  with 
nacreous  shells,  but  the  principal  supply  is  de- 
rived from  a  comparatively  few  families,  led  by 
the  Aviculidae,  Unionidae,  and  Mytilidae.  The 
first  group  includes  the  pearl  oyster  of  the  In- 
dian and  Pacific  oceans,  from  which  has  come 
the  bulk  of  the  world's  pearls;  the  second  in- 
cludes the  unio,  or  fresh-water  mussel  of  North 
America;  and  the  third  is  a  family  of  conchi- 
ferous  molluscs,  mostly  marine,  the  typical  gems 
being  Mytiliu*  edulis,  or  true  mussel,  which  has 
a  wedge-shaped  cell  and  moors  itself  to  piles 
and  stones  by  a  strong  coarse  byssus  of  flaxy  or 
silky-looking  fibres.  The  distribution  of  these 
molluscs  is  world-wide. 

"  In    all    ages,    pearls   have   been    the   social 


The  Pearl  77 

insignia  of  rank  among  the  highly  civilised," 
writes  W.  R.  Cattelle  in  his  standard  book  The 
Pearl.  First  lavishly  used  by  the  princes  of  the 
East  for  the  adornment  of  their  royal  persons, 
as  the  course  of  empire  trended  westward  the 
pearl  followed  the  flag  of  the  conquerors,  and 
thus,  in  time,  as  Rome's  power  and  affluence 
grew  into  world-control,  her  treasure  of  pearls 
grew  to  vast  proportions  and  became  identified 
with  the  social  eminence  and  arrogance  of  the 
Caesars  and  patrician  Rome.  To-day  the  market 
for  the  best  in  pearls  of  recent  finding,  as  for 
all  new  products  of  precious  stones,  or  for 
famous  jewels,  whose  owners'  changing  fortunes 
bring  them  to  the  parting,  is  within  the  new 
regime  of  Croesus  represented  by  the  multi- 
millionaires of  the  United  States.  The  world's 
best  buyers  of  jewels  are  not  always  as  willing 
to  have  their  princely  expenditures  known  as  is 
generally  believed,  and  the  names  of  some  of 
America's  heaviest  purchasers  of  gems  have  not 
been  revealed  by  the  dealers.  It  is  authori- 
tatively stated  that  the  finest  single  strand  of 
large  pearls  in  existence  was  recently  acquired 
by  a  Western  millionaire  of  the  United  States. 
The  strand  is  composed  of  thirty-seven  pearls 
ranging  from  eighteen  to  fifty-two  and  three- 


78        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

quarter  grains  each,  the  latter  being  the  largest 
central  pearl.  The  pearls  combined  weigh  979% 
grains,  and  the  strand  is  said  to  have  cost  its 
possessor  $400,000. 


CHAPTER  VI 

^- RUBIES 

A  LTHOUGH  we  place  the  ruby  fourth  among 
**  the  precious  stones,  so  few  are  the  superior 
rubies  in  commerce,  or  that  the  world  sees,  that 
when  a  perfect  ruby  of  the  weight  of  ten  or  more 
carats  enters  the  market,  it  brings  a  price  three 
times  as  great  as  does  a  diamond  of  the  same 
weight. 

The  natives  of  India  indiscriminately  apply 
the  name  "  ruby "  to  all  coloured  precious 
stones,  and  it  is  the  habit  of  American  dealers 
in  precious  stones  to  be  almost  as  general  in 
calling  various  red  gems  rubies,  although  they 
do  distinguish  by  calling  the  corundum  ruby 
"  Oriental  ruby."  This  being  a  book  for  every- 
one, other  red  stones  commonly  or  even  occa- 
sionally appearing  in  the  jewelry  trade  and 
called  by  merchants  rubies  will  be  compre- 
hended and  described  in  this  chapter,  leading 
with  the  corundum  reality,  which  is  beyond 
compare. 

Corundum  crystallises  in  the  hexagonal  sys- 

7Q 


8o         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tern  in  six-sided  prisms  and  pyramids,  the 
crystals  frequently  being  rough  and  rounded; 
hardness  9;  brittle;  specific  gravity  3.9  and  up- 
wards to  4.16;  lustre  adamantine  to  vitreous; 
sometimes  the  lustre  is  pearly  on  the  basal 
plane;  and  occasionally  there  is  exhibited  a 
bright,  opalescent,  six-rayed  star  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  vertical  axis.  The  colour  range  is 
almost  unlimited,  blue  corundum  being  sapphire. 
The  strongly  coloured  varieties  are  pleochroic. 
Corundum  is  sometimes  phosphorescent,  with  a 
rich  red  colour.  The  red-coloured  corundum  or 
ruby  varies  from  a  rose  to  a  deep  carmine,  the 
desideratum  being  a  "  pigeon's  blood  "  red,  and 
the  same  crystal  will  sometimes  reveal  different 
colours.  Like  its  brother  in  the  noble  corun- 
dum family,  the  ruby  is  a  peer  of  the  realm 
of  precious  stones,  and  second  only  to  the 
throne  of  the  sovereign  diamond. 

In  chemistry,  corundum  is  pure  alumina,  the 
oxide  of  the  metal  aluminum,  composed  of  53.2 
per  cent,  of  the  metal  and  46.8  per  cent,  of 
oxygen.  Natural  corundum  is  probably  never 
chemically  pure;  the  inclusions  of  foreign  ele- 
ments, sometimes  but  the  merest  traces,  impart 
the  colour  that  makes  the  gem.  When  foreign 
matter  is  present  in  large  proportion  corundum 


Rubies  81 

is  impossible  for  gem  purposes,  although  of 
great  value  industrially;  Inferior  translucent 
specimens  serve  for  pivot  supports  of  watches 
and  other  delicate  machines  and  the  opaque  as 
an  abrasive;  thus  common  corundum  is  used 
for  cutting  and  polishing  gem  minerals  lower  in 
the  scale  of  hardness  than  the  diamond,  a  variety 
of  it  being  the  common  compact  black  emery 
powder  used  for  sharpening  and  polishing  in 
mechanical  and  domestic  uses,  and  familiar  to 
everyone. 

A  chemical  analysis  of  a  fine  specimen  of  an 
"  Oriental  ruby,"  of  the  approved  rich  deep  red 
hue  was  as  follows:  alumina,  97.32;  iron 
oxide,  1.09;  silica,  1.21;  in  all,  99.62.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  crystallography  goes  and  its  fine, 
yet  plain,  distinctions,  in  determining  gem 
minerals,  are  illustrated  by  the  marked  crystal- 
lographic  differences  between  the  ruby  and  the 
sapphire,  which  differ  but  slightly  in  chemical 
composition,  having  the  same  constituents  but 
different  proportions;  thus  one  typical  sapphire 
analysed  entire  exhibited  alumina,  97.51;  iron 
oxide,  1.89;  and  silica,  0.80;  in  all,  100.20. 
The  forms  of  corundum  generally  occur  in 
two  different  habits  represented  by  the  ruby 
and  the  sapphire;  in  the  former  the  prism 


82        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

predominates  and  in  the  latter  the  hexagonal 
pyramid. 

Although  corundum  is  second  to  the  diamond 
in  point  of  hardness,  it  is  approached  much 
more  closely  by  the  minerals  next  below  it  in 
the  scale  of  hardness,  than  it  approaches  the 
eminent  and  reserved  diamond. 

Pure  corundum  has  a  high  specific  gravity 
ranging  from  3.94  to  4.08,  and  this  great  dens- 
ity makes  the  specific  gravity  test  in  distinguish- 
ing it  from  other  stones  both  easy  and 
important.  The  differently  coloured  varieties 
have  not  been  proved  to  vary  in  this  particular. 
Acids  will  not  attack  corundum  nor  is  it  fusible 
before  the  blowpipe.  Some  specimens  when 
heated  in  the  dark  are  beautifully  phosphorescent. 
Corundum,  by  friction,  develops  positive  elec- 
tricity, which  it  retains  for  some  time.  The 
lustre  of  corundum  and  its  fire  approach  these 
qualities  in  the  diamond,  but  the  lustre  is 
vitreous  instead  of  adamantine,  although  it  is 
very  durable.  Corundum  is  optically  uniaxial 
and  strongly  doubly  refracting,  but  the  dis- 
persion produced  is  slight  and  it  is,  therefore, 
incapable  of  emitting  flashes  of  prismatic 
colours  like  the  diamond.  Coloured  corundum 
crystals  are  dichroic  and  the  deeper  the  colour 


Rubies  83 

the  more  pronounced  the  dichroism.  A  con- 
stant characteristic  of  coloured  corundum  gems 
is  that  they  are  as  beautiful  by  artificial  light 
as  by  daylight. 

There  are  at  least  nine  varieties  of  corundum 
used  as  gems  and  familiar  to  nearly  all  jewel- 
lers; the  coloured  varieties,  other  than  the  red 
ruby  and  blue  sapphire,  are  named  for  the  gems 
of  other  mineral  species  that  they  resemble  in 
colour,  only  with  the  distinguishing  prefix  of 
"Oriental."  The  arbitrary  names  and  colours 
are:  Ruby  ("Oriental  ruby"),  red;  Sapphire 
("Oriental  sapphire"),  blue;  Leuco-sapphire 
(White  sapphire),  colourless;  "Oriental  aqua- 
marine," light  bluish-green ;  "  Oriental  em^ 
erald,"  green ;  "  Oriental  chrysolite,"  yellowish- 
green  ;  "  Oriental  topaz,"  yellow ;  "  Oriental 
hyacinth,"  aurora  red ;  "  Oriental  amethyst," 
violet. 

The  colour-varieties  of  corundum  are  found 
in  irregular  grains  and  as  crystals  embedded  in 
some  old  crystalline  rock,  as  granite  or  gneiss. 
The  gem-varieties  frequently  occur  as  secondary 
contact  minerals,  which  contact  with  a  molten 
igneous  rock  has  developed  in  limestone.  These 
embedded  crystals  are  frequently  liberated  by 
the  weathering  and  uncovering  of  such  rocks, 


84         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

and  then  the  crystals  are  found  in  the  debris  in 
the  beds  of  streams. 

Red  corundum  is  supposed  to  be  identical 
with  the  anthrax  mentioned  by  Theophrastus 
and  to  have  been  termed  carbuncle  during  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  colour-tone  of  the  ruby 
varies  greatly,  and  the  presence  of  deep,  intense 
tones  of  red  causes  the  term  "  masculine "  to 
be  applied  to  a  gem,  while  the  paler  tints  sug- 
gest the  term  "  feminine."  Eubies  range  from 
a  delicate  pink  tint  through  pale  rose  red  to 
reddish-white,  pure  red,  carmine  red,  or  blood 
red.  A  tinge  of  blue  or  violet  is  frequently 
discernible  in  these  shades.  The  desired  tone 
in  ruby  colour  was  so  aptly  compared  by  the 
Burmese  to  the  blood  of  a  freshly-killed  pigeon 
that  the  term  "  pigeon-blood "  is  the  accepted 
qualification  for  the  colour  of  the  choicest  and 
costliest  ruby  gems.  The  colouring  is  not  al- 
ways uniform,  there  sometimes  occurring  alter- 
nate layers  of  colours  and  colourless  stone; 
a  process  of  heating  usually  renders  the  colour 
uniform.  The  ruby  does  not  lose  its  colour 
when  heated,  and  hence  it  is  assumed  that  the 
colouring  matter  is  not  organic,  as  in  that  case 
it  would  be  destroyed,  but  is  probably  due 
to  a  trace  of  chromium.  A  graduated  increase 


Rubies  85 

of  heat  will  not  fracture  the  stone,  which  upon 
cooling  becomes  white,  then  green,  and  finally 
regains  its  original  red  colour.  The  ruby  is 
dichroic  according  to  the  direction  in  which  it 
is  seen,  and  in  cutting  it  this  must  be  taken 
into  consideration;  the  table — the  largest  facet 
surface — should  be  aligned  with  the  basal  planes 
of  the  crystal,  in  order  to  exhibit  the  greatest 
possible  depth  of  colour.  The  dichroism  of  the 
ruby  is  one  of  its  certain  distinctions  from 
spinel,  garnet,  and  other  red  stones  which 
crystallise  in  the  cubic  system  and  therefore  are 
but  singly  refracting. 

Kubies  sometimes  show  on  their  basal  planes, 
or  on  a  convex  surface  which  corresponds  to  the 
bases,  a  six-rayed  star  of  gleaming  light;  these 
are  called  asteriated  rubies,  "star-rubies,"  or 
ruby  cat's-eye. 

So  valuable  are  flawless  rubies  of  good  colour, 
that  when  they  ascend  much  above  a  carat  in 
weight  their  prices  depend  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent on  fancy.  A  three-carat  ruby  of  desirable 
qualities  is  a  rarity,  while  three-carat  diamonds 
are  common.  Although  nothing  will  definitely 
indicate  what  a  fine  ruby  of  three  carats  and 
upward  might  bring  in  the  open  market,  yet 
Dr.  George  F.  Kunz  appraised  a  fine  ruby  of 


86         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

9  5-16  carats  at  $33,000,  and  Mr.  E.  W.  Streeter, 
the  London  jeweller  and  author,  records  a 
purchase  price  of  about  $ 50,000  for  a  cut  ruby 
of  32  5/16  carats. 

The  common  faults  of  rubies  are  lack  of 
clearness ;  the  presence  of  "  clouds,"  also  termed 
silk,  especially  in  light-coloured  stones;  patches 
which  resemble  milk  ("chalcedony  patches"); 
internal  cracks  and  fissures  ("feathers") ;  and 
the  colour  being  unequally  distributed. 

From  the  beginning  of  its  history  the  main 
supply  of  the  beautiful  ruby  gem  has  been  from 
a  small  territory  in  upper  Burma,  whence,  also, 
have  come  those  of  the  finest  quality.  The  centre 
of  this  mining  region  and  the  ruby  trade  is  the 
town  of  Mogok,  ninety  miles  north-north-east 
of  Mandalay.  The  mining  district  ranges  from 
four  thousand  to  nearly  eight  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level,  but,  despite  its  altitude,  this 
forest-covered  region  proves  unhealthy  for  Eu- 
ropeans. The  principal  mines  are  in  two  valleys 
in  which  are  the  towns  of  Kathay  and  Kyatpyen. 

Rubies  and  the  minerals  with  which  they  are 
associated,  such  as  spinel,  are  here  found  in  a 
mother-rock  of  white,  dolomitic,  granular  lime- 
stone or  marble,  of  the  upper  Carboniferous 
age.  These  rocks  have  been  altered  by  contact 


Rubies  87 

with  molten  igneous  material  which  recrystal- 
lised  the  calcium  carbonate  as  pure  calcite, 
while  the  impurities  became  the  ruby  and  its 
associated  minerals.  The  precious  stones  are 
but  occasionally  found  in  the  rock  itself,  but  in 
an  adjacent  ground,  which  the  miners  call 
"  byon,"  where  the  gem  stones  have  weathered 
out;  in  the  neighbouring  river  alluvium  are 
found  ruby  particles,  called  ruby-sand.  Prior 
to  1886  the  rubies  were  mined  by  the  Burmese 
with  the  primitive  methods  that  had  been  in 
vogue  for  centuries,  but  when,  in  that  year, 
Burma  became  part  of  the  British  Empire,  the 
work  was  taken  up  first  by  an  Anglo-Italian 
and  then  by  an  English  company,  which  paid 
the  Indian  Government  for  this  concession  of 
mining  rights  the  equivalent  of  about  $125,000 
annually. 

Siam  has  long  produced  corundum  rubies,  but 
the  gems  are  usually  darker  and  inferior  to  the 
beautiful  clear  red  stones  from  Burma.  The 
principal  mines  are  controlled  by  an  English 
company.  A  few  rubies  have  come  from  the 
gem-sands  of  Ceylon;  a  few  have  been  found 
in  Mysore  and  Madras,  India;  and  inconsider- 
able products  in  Afghanistan  and  Australia. 
Rubies  have  been  found  in  North  Carolina  and 


88         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Montana  in  the  United  States,  but  the  products 
are  not  of  commercial  importance. 

Corundum  rubies  formed  of  ruby  material  by 
artificial  methods  have  attracted  attention  and 
are  cutting  some  figure  in  the  jewelry  trade, 
but  they  are  not  and  can  never  be  the  peers  of 
natural  rubies;  man's  ingenuity  and  science 
cannot  compete  with  Nature  in  the  gem  busi- 
ness. Artificial  rubies  are  described  in  another 
chapter. 

Of  the  other  stones  than  corundum  called 
"ruby,"  the  only  important  ones  are  the  vari- 
eties of  spinel,  which  chemically  is  closely  allied 
to  corundum  so  that  the  red  varieties  of  spinel 
might  be  regarded  as  cousins-german  to  the  real 
ruby.  The  "  Cape  ruby " — so  called  in  the 
jewelry  trade — is  pyrope  garnet  from  the  dia- 
mond-bearing rock  of  South  Africa,  and  is 
described  in  its  proper  place — the  chapter  on 
the  garnet.  Stones  sometimes  substituted  for 
the  ruby  by  dealers,  or  mistakenly  called  rubies, 
are  red  tourmaline,  or  rubellite,  called  "  Siberian 
ruby";  rose  topaz,  called  "  Brazilian  ruby  ";  and 
hyacinth  or  jacinth,  which  is  zircon,  and  is  de- 
scribed in  the  chapter  on  "  Semi-Precious  Stones 
Occasionally  Used."  Spinel  has  perhaps  a  wider 
range  of  colour  than  almost  any  other  mineral, 


Rubies  89 

but  it  will  be  considered  here  chiefly  with  re- 
gard to  the  red  varieties  approximating  the 
colour  of  the  ruby.  Spinel  is  practically  a 
magnesium  aluminate,  consisting  of  alumina, 
71.8%,  and  magnesia,  28.2%.  The  chief  red 
shades  are:  deep  red,  Siam  ruby  and  spinel 
ruby ;  rose  red,  balas  ruby ;  yellow  or  orange  red, 
rubicelle;  violet  red,  almandine  ruby.  The  na- 
tive name  in  India  for  spinel  is  "  pomegranate." 
A  slight  knowledge  of  mineralogy  should  suffice 
to  distinguish  the  corundum  ruby  from  its 
spinel  distant  relative,  for  the  latter  is  less 
hard  and  of  lower  specific  gravity,  and  different 
in  crystallisation.  Spinel  is  of  about  the  hard- 
ness of  topaz,  or  8  in  the  Mohs  scale,  and  its 
specific  gravity  is  about  3.6.  It  crystallises  in 
the  isometric  system  and  usually  appears  in  the 
form  of  octahedrons.  It  is  singly  refracting, 
corundum  doubly.  Spinel  is  infusible  before 
the  blowpipe,  but  heating  it  will  cause  it  to 
undergo  several  changes  of  colour,  ultimately 
returning  to  its  original  hue,  so  that  it  might 
be  termed  the  chameleon  of  gem  minerals.  With- 
out any  design  to  substitute  spinel  for  corundum 
rubies,  spinel  has  its  own  deserved  value,  and 
its  beauty  and  intrinsic  worth  deserve  for  it  an 
inclusion  in  the  company  of  the  high-class  gems. 


90        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  spinel  ruby  is  not 
only  the  relative  of  the  patrician  corundum 
ruby,  but  the  poor  relation  dwells  together  with 
its  wealthy  relative  in  nature.  Both  rubies  are 
found  associated  in  the  gem  gravels  of  Ceylon, 
Siam,  Australia,  and  Brazil,  as  well  as  in  the 
crystalline  limestone  of  upper  Burma.  Spinel 
rubies  are  found  in  quantity  in  Balakschan, 
Afghanistan,  near  the  River  Oxus;  the  name 
"  Balas  ruby  "  is  probably  derived  from  Beloo- 
chistan,  otherwise  Balakschan. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  SAPPHIRE 

QAPPHIRE,  the  stone  of  April,  is  the  symbol 
^  of  constancy,  truth,  and  virtue.  Like  the 
ruby,  it  is  corundum,  and  the  name  "  sapphire  " 
is  generally  applied  to  corundum  of  any  colour 
excepting  the  red.  More  specifically,  the  name 
is  applied  to  blue  specimens,  the  desired  tints 
being  royal  blue,  velvet  blue,  and  cornflower 
blue.  A  characteristic  of  this  variety  of  corun- 
dum is,  that  occasionally  its  colour  effect  by 
artificial  light  differs  from  that  manifested 
in  natural  light,  being  generally  less  bril- 
liant. Dealers  call  the  blue  corundums  "  Ori- 
ental sapphires."  It  is  one  of  the  most  an- 
cient of  stones  and  its  names  differ  but 
slightly  in  the  ancient  languages,  Chaldean, 
Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  from  which  the  Eng- 
lish word  is  derived.  Stones  of  darker  colour 
are  frequently  termed  male  and  those  of  lighter 
shades  female. 

Higher  specific  gravity  and  a  greater  degree 
91 


92        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

of  hardness,  besides  the  difference  in  colour, 
distinguish  the  sapphire  from  the  ruby;  other- 
wise the  sapphire's  chemical  and  physical  char- 
acteristics are  generally  included  in  the 
description  of  corundum  in  the  foregoing  chap- 
ter, covering  the  red  corundum  and  other  red 
stones  termed  rubies.  While  the  form  of  the 
sapphire  crystal  corresponds  with  that  of  the 
ruby,  there  is  a  difference  in  the  habit  of  crys- 
tallisation; the  prism  and  rhombohedron  of  the 
ruby,  are  replaced  in  the  sapphire  by  the  hex- 
agonal pyramid.  The  colouration  of  sapphires 
is  frequently  irregular;  different  portions  of  the 
same  stone  show  different  colours,  and  some- 
times the  body  of  what  would  be  a  colourless 
sapphire  shows  blue  patches;  but  as  the  blue 
colour  vanishes  when  the  stone  is  heated,  such 
a  stone,  undesirable  as  a  gem,  can  be  rendered 
valuable  by  heating  it  until  it  becomes  a  clear 
white  sapphire.  The  colours  of  sapphire  range 
from  the  white,  colourless,  or,  so-called,  "  Leuco- 
sapphire";  through  the  yellow,  called  "  Oriental 
topaz  " ;  and  through  various  tints  to  the  royal 
blue  of  the  typical  gem  sapphire.  Sometimes 
sapphires  show  different  colours  at  their  termi- 
nations, as  greenish-blue  at  one  end  and  blue  at 
the  other,  or  red  and  blue  at  the  ends ;  examples 


The  Sapphire  93 

have  been  seen  that  were  blue  at  the  ends  and 
yellow  in  the  middle.  One  famous  tri-coloured 
sapphire  is  cut  into  a  figure  of  the  Chinese 
sage,  Confucius;  the  head  is  colourless,  the 
body  pale  blue,  and  the  legs  yellow.  Sapphires 
exhibit  as  many  shades  of  blue  as  can  be  named. 
The  very  darkest,  almost  black,  is  termed 
"  inky  " ;  pale  "  feminine "  stones  are  termed 
"  water-sapphires  " ;  dark,  yet  very  blue  stones, 
are  called  "indigo-sapphires,"  "lynx-sapphire," 
or  "  cat-sapphire."  The  tone  and  transparency 
of  the  stone  are  most  important  factors,  and, 
provided  they  are  present,  the  very  dark  shades 
are  not  disadvantages,  although  the  "  corn- 
flower" is  the  choicest.  Besides  the  "corn- 
flower" colour,  tones  and  tints  are  indicated 
by  such  adjectives  as  "  Berlin,"  "  smalt,"  "  grey- 
ish," and  "greenish."  The  dichroism  of  the 
sapphire  is  nearly  always  apparent  if  the  stone 
is  viewed  from  an  angle  that  reveals  it,  the  blue 
appearing  tinged  with  green  or  with  violet.  The 
dichroism  of  the  sapphire  is,  like  that  of  the 
ruby,  taken  into  account  in  producing  the  best 
effects  in  the  cutting.  In  artificial  light  some 
specimens  remain  unchanged,  while  others  be- 
come darker,  or,  perhaps,  change  to  a  reddish, 
purple,  or  violet  colour.  Asterias  or  star- 


94         A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

sapphires  present  the  same  six-rayed  gleams  of 
light  that  are  sometimes  manifested  by  the  ruby, 
but  they  are  usually  much  more  marked  in  the 
sapphire.  Sometimes  a  sapphire  presents  but  an 
irregular  patch  of  opalescent  light,  when  it  is 
called  "sapphire  cat's-eye"  or  "Oriental  gi- 
rasol."  Star-stones  are  never  transparent 
throughout,  and  their  cloudiness,  due  to  en- 
closures of  minute  tabular  crystals,  or  tiny 
tubular  cavities,  the  latter  in  sets,  is  believed 
to  cause  the  star-rays;  the  exact  manner  has 
been  variously  explained  but  not  scientifically 
demonstrated.  Star-sapphires  are  cut  en  cabo- 
chon.  Sapphires  being  more  common  than 
rubies  are  less  valuable. 

Sapphires  are  found  in  about  the  same  min- 
eral situations  as  rubies,  predominating  in  some 
localities  as  rubies  do  in  others.  They  are  more 
abundant  than  rubies  in  Siam,  although  they 
are  mined  in  different  localities.  They  are 
found  in  Ceylon,  in  Kashmir,  in  the  north-west 
Himalaya  Mountains,  in  the  gem-gravels  of 
Australia,  and  in  Montana  in  the  United  States. 
Siam  produces  most  of  the  sapphires  marketed 
and  those  of  the  best  quality.  Mines  at  Bo  Pie 
Rin  in  Battambang,  Siam,  yield  five-eighths  of 
the  world's  sapphire  product.  The  sapphire 


The  Sapphire  95 

there  is  found  in  a  light  sandy  clay  within  two 
feet  of  the  surface.  The  "  mines "  are  small 
rough  pits,  the  clay  is  washed  away  from  the 
excavated  mass,  and  the  sapphire  picked  out  of 
the  residue.  In  America,  sapphires  are  found 
at  Co  wee  Creek  in  Macon  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, where  fine  crystals  appear  in  dunite,  an 
olivine-rock.  The  sapphires  of  Montana  are 
found  in  auriferous  gravel  in  the  Missouri  River 
bed  near  Helena,  a  field  of  operations  for  placer- 
miners  for  years ;  these  miners  doubtless  panned 
out  sapphires  and  rubies  for  a  long  time  and 
threw  them  away  without  identifying  them  as 
precious  stones.  Sapphires  are  found  at  the 
source  of  the  Iser  River  in  the  Iser  Mountains, 
in  Bohemia  in  Europe;  stones  of  the  finest 
quality  have  been  found  there,  but  they  have 
seldom  exceeded  four  carats  in  weight. 

Blue  stones  which  resemble  sapphire,  and 
have  been  sold  as  sapphire,  are  cordierite  (called 
"water-sapphire  ") ;  kyanite  ("  sapphire  ") ;  blue 
tourmaline  ("  indicolite ") ;  blue  topaz;  and 
blue  spinel.  To  this  list  might  be  added  hatiy- 
nite,  and  aquamarine;  all  of  these  are  softer  than 
sapphire,  and  all  are  less  in  specific  gravity. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  AMETHYST 

"THE  amethyst  is  a  species  of  quartz  that  is 
*  now  of  more  artistic  than  intrinsic  value. 
The  native  beauty  of  the  purple  stone  is  indis- 
putable. In  folklore  it  has  a  prominent  place 
as  the  natal  stone  of  those  born  in  the  month 
of  February,  who,  astrologically  dwell  in  the 
sign  of  Aries  in  the  Zodiac,  and  are  dominated 
by  the  planet  Mars.  It  is  distinctively  the  pre- 
cious stone  of  the  Bishop,  and  also,  rather  in- 
congruously, of  Bacchus;  and  yet,  despite  its 
appropriation  by  these  personages,  respectively 
ecclesiastical  and  mythological,  it  is  also  used 
as  an  amulet  believed  to  protect  the  wearer  from 
the  curse  of  excessive  indulgence  in  stimulating 
beverages.  The  amethyst  is  the  symbol  of  pure 
love ;  it  is  also  the  "  soldier's  stone  " ;  it  is  the 
stone  appropriate  for  mourning,  and  thus,  in 
many  ways  it  is  invested  with  a  strong  sen- 
timental interest.  The  signet  ring  of  Cleopatra 

was  an  amethyst,  engraved  with  the  figure  of 
96 


The  Amethyst  97 

Mithras,  a  Persian  deity,  symbol  of  the  Divine 
Idea,  Source  of  Light  and  Life.  From  the  ring 
of  Edward  the  Confessor  was  taken  the  amethyst 
that  adorns  the  British  crown,  and  this  parti- 
cular stone  is,  by  tradition,  imbued  with  the 
qualities  of  a  prophylactic  against  contagious 
diseases. 

There  is  an  ancient  myth  that  a  beautiful 
nymph  was  beloved  and  beset  by  Bacchus,  who 
in  her  effort  to  escape  the  imperious  wooing  of 
her  ardent  lover,  was  aided  by  her  patron  god- 
dess and  metamorphosed  into  an  amethyst. 
Bacchus,  baffled,  in  memory  of  his  vanished 
love,  bestowed  on  the  stone  the  colour  of  the 
purple  wine  he  best  loved,  and  registered  a  vow 
that  forevermore  whoever  would  wear  the  ame- 
thyst should  be  preserved  from  intoxication,  no 
matter  how  extensive  his  libations.  In  medieval 
times  the  amethyst  was  a  favourite  amulet  as 
a  preserver  of  the  wearer  in  battle,  and  many 
a  pious  crusader  who  nightly  told  his  beads, 
relied  also  upon  the  purple  stone  that  hung  as 
a  protective  charm  beside  his  rosary.  The  ame- 
thyst was  believed  to  be  a  good  influence  if 
worn  by  persons  making  petitions  to  princes, 
and  also  to  be  a  puissant  preventive  of  hail- 
storms and  locusts.  The  association  of  the 


98        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

amethyst  with  sacerdotal  things  is  old  and 
long,  for  it  is  the  pious  or  episcopal  gem, 
and  regarded  as  imparting  especial  dignity  and 
beauty  to  the  property  of  the  Roman  Church. 
The  amethyst  is  sacred  to  St.  Valentine,  who  is 
said  to  have  always  worn  one. 

The  word  amethyst  owes  its  root  to  the  Greek 
word  amethustos,  meaning  not  drunken,  and 
also  construed  to  mean  a  remedy  for  drunken- 
ness. Pliny,  with  customary  quaintness,  thought 
it  prevented  intoxication  because  it  did  not 
reach,  although  it  approximated,  the  colour  of 
wine. 

Amethyst,  a  variety  of  quartz,  plainly  crys- 
talline, is  called  by  Dana,  amethystine  quartz. 
Its  colour,  which  is  diffused  throughout  the  crys- 
tals or  affects  only  their  summits,  is  a  clear  pur- 
ple or  bluish-violet,  and  it  is  therefore  sometimes 
called  violet-quartz.  The  amethyst  is  of  all  de- 
grees of  colour  from  the  slightest  tint  to  so 
dark  as  to  be  almost  opaque.  Not  always  uni- 
form, the  colour  is  sometimes  in  spots  and  in 
some  crystals  shades  gradually  from  light  to 
dark.  The  dark  reddish-purple  colour  is  most 
highly  prized ;  it  has  the  advantage,  too,  of  hold- 
ing its  value  under  all  circumstances,  for  in  an 
artificial  light,  especially  if  containing  yellow 


The  Amethyst  99 

rays,  the  pale  stones  lose  their  violet  colour 
and  become  a  dull  grey.  Some  deeply  coloured 
amethysts  from  Maine  change  to  a  wine  colour 
in  artificial  light,  thus  becoming  even  more 
beautiful. 

The  amethyst's  best  claims  to  perpetual  popu- 
lar appreciation  are  its  beauty  of  colour  and 
its  adaptability  as  an  ornament  to  harmonise 
with  a  costume  colour  scheme.  In  the  develop- 
ment of  woman's  discrimination  in  dress,  she 
desires  a  jewel  for  every  gown  and  ornaments 
for  afternoon  as  well  as  for  night,  and  for  spe- 
cial occasions.  For  fabrics  of  pearl-grey,  ame- 
thysts mounted  in  dull  silver  should  be  in  high 
favour. 

A  good  amethyst  should  be  of  a  deep  purple 
colour,  perfectly  transparent  and  throughout 
uniform  in  hue.  Amethysts  are  distinctly  di« 
chroic;  they  rank  No.  7  in  the  Mohs  scale  of 
hardness;  specific  gravity  is  2.6  to  2.7.  The 
crystallisation  of  this  quartz  is  in  six-sided 
prisms  terminating  in  pyramids.  Lustre  vitre- 
ous; cleavage  none  or  distinct;  fracture  con- 
choidal,  glassy.  It  is  doubly  refractive,  the 
twin  colours  being  reddish  and  bluish  purple. 
Amethysts  are  usually  cut  step,  while  the  finer 
specimens  are  cut  brilliant. 


ioo       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

The  chief  sources  of  supply  for  amethysts  are 
Brazil  and  the  Ural  Mountains,  Siberia.  The 
Siberian  amethysts,  accompanied  by  beryl  and 
topaz,  occur  in  cavities  in  granite;  often  they 
are  found  lying  loose  and  sometimes  very  near 
the  surface.  Cavities  in  a  black  eruptive  rock 
(melaphyre)  are  the  hiding  places  of  some 
Brazilian  amethysts,  while  others  are  found  as 
pebbles  in  the  river  gravels  with  chrysoberyl  and 
topaz  as  companion  minerals.  Gem  amethysts 
are  also  found  in  gravel  bearing  other  gems  in 
Ceylon. 

In  North  America,  a  few  of  the  finest  spe- 
cimens of  amethyst  on  record  have  been  found 
in  Oxford  County,  Maine.  Other  localities  are 
Delaware  and  Chester  Counties,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Haywood  County,  North  Carolina.  Crys- 
tallised amethyst  in  commercial  quantities  has 
been  found  at  Thunder  Bay  on  the  north  shore 
of  Lake  Superior.  The  crystals  are  highly 
coloured  but  not  uniform  or  clear  and  few  good 
gems  have  been  obtained  there. 

Amethyst  was  formerly  much  more  highly 
prized  than  now  because  of  its  scarcity.  Be- 
sides the  increased  supply  it  has  been  imitated 
so  convincingly  as  to  impose  upon  all  excepting 
gem  experts.  A  celebrated  amethyst  necklace 


QUARTZ  CRYSTALS 


The  Amethyst  101 

owned  by  Queen  Charlotte  of  England,  valued 
at  $10,000,  might  not  now  be  worth  intrinsically 
$500.  The  exclusive  charming  violet  colour  of 
the  amethyst  will  probably  always  insure  a  de- 
mand for  the  best  qualities  of  this  stone,  and 
with  a  development  of  art  in  the  treatment  and 
uses  of  precious  stones  and  jewelry,  the  demand 
is  likely  to  grow. 

Of  all  specimens  of  amethyst  that  appear  in 
the  market  to-day,  the  Siberian  stones  so  far 
outclass  all  competitors  in  richness  and  depth 
of  their  dark  violet  hue,  that  these  beautiful 
gems  mixed  with  others  would  be  instantly  se- 
lected by  the  merest  novice;  so  manifestly  su- 
perior is  their  quality  that,  comparatively 
speaking,  they  alone  are  gems,  and  the  only 
reason  that  their  cost  is  not  much  greater  than 
it  is,  is  because  Nature  has  been  generous  in 
the  quantity  that  she  has  permitted  man  to 
extract  from  her  mineral  treasure  house. 


CHAPTER  IY 

COEAL 


has  been  used  for  personal  ornamen- 
tation,  and  as  an  article  of  commerce,  from 
the  earliest  period  recorded  in  writing.  Popular 
to-day,  as  it  has  almost  always  been  —  especially 
in  the  form  of  polished  fragments,  pierced  and 
strung  like  beads,  and  less  extensively  in  beads, 
spherical  or  oval  —  the  most  desired,  high  grade 
of  light  rose-pink  coral  is  becoming  scarce,  and 
those  who  gather  it  from  the  ocean's  floor  are 
anxiously  seeking  new  sources  of  supply.  At  the 
present  time  coral  is  increasing  in  favour  and 
the  demand  for  it  is  steadily  growing. 

Coral  —  like  the  sea  gem,  the  pearl,  —  is  essen- 
tially carbonate  of  lime.  Its  structure  is  erected 
by  a  family  of  zoophytes,  gelatinous  marine  ani- 
mals (not  insects  as  is  too  often  written)  called 
polyps.  The  coral  is  secreted  by  a  peculiar  layer 
of  the  skin;  it  is  the  calcareous  skeleton  of  the 

lowly  organised  animal,  and  gradually  develops 
10  a 


Coral  103 

like  the  bones  of  vertebrates,  and  is  not  built 
up  as  bees  build  a  honeycomb  as  is  popularly 
believed.  The  pits  or  depressions  on  a  branch 
of  coral  represent  the  places  where  the  coral 
colonists  once  grew.  Coral  is  a  common  sub- 
marine feature  in  low  latitudes  all  around  the 
globe,  but  the  gem  or  precious  coral,  Corallium 
rubrum,  formerly  called  Corallium  nobile,  comes 
almost  exclusively  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
off  the  African,  Corsican,  and  Sicilian  coasts. 
A  wild-rose  pink  is  the  particular  shade  most 
highly  favoured.  The  Corallium  rubrum,  the 
only  species  utilised  and  valued  to  any  extent 
for  jewelry,  belongs  to  the  family  Gorgon idae 
of  the  group  Alcyonaria. 

The  skeleton  of  a  colony  of  Corallium  rubrum 
is  found  to  be  cemented  firmly  by  a  disc-shaped 
foot  to  any  dense  natural  or  foreign  object  on 
the  sea  bottom,  as  a  stone,  cannon-ball,  bottle, 
or,  as  is  recorded  in  one  case  of  fact,  a  human 
skull.  The  branches  seldom  exceed  a  foot  in 
length  and  an  inch  in  diameter.  A  curious 
characteristic  of  coral  is,  that  it  grows  always 
perpendicular,  or  approximately,  at  a  right 
angle  to  the  surface  to  which  it  is  attached — 
downward,  if  its  foothold  is  on  the  under  face 
of  a  rock. 


104       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

The  colonies  are  usually  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  feet  beneath  the  sea's  surface. 

Some  expert  authorities  have  fathered  the  as- 
sertion that  about  thirty  years  is  required  for 
coral  stock  to  develop  into  full  size;  yet  the 
Sicilian  coral  bank  is  divided  into  ten  sections, 
one  of  which  is  finished  every  year,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  decade  the  first  bank  yields  full-sized 
stock. 

Pietro  Moncadi  of  Palermo,  said  to  be  the 
largest  dealer  in  Italian  coral,  during  a  recent 
visit  to  New  York,  reported  that  the  demand 
for  high  grade  red  coral  leads  the  supply.  Many 
beds  off  the  Italian  coasts  are  exhausted  and 
there  is  much  prospecting  off  Malta,  Malabar, 
and  East  African  coasts,  at  great  expense  and, 
so  far,  with  very  small  reward.  Signer  Mon- 
cadi made  the  statement  that  the  United  States 
buys  the  finest  red  coral,  and  the  producers  who 
possess  the  highest  grade  have  to  seek  no  other 
market. 

The  home  of  the  coral  industry  is  Italy,  where 
there  are  about  sixty  work  shops,  with  about 
six  thousand  employees.  Torre  del  Greco  is 
the  centre  of  both  the  coral-fishing  and  the  coral- 
working  industries.  The  coral-workers  pierce 
and  string  pieces  of  coral  of  all  shapes  and 


Coral  105 

sizes.  The  beads  are  spherical  or  egg-shaped — 
the  latter  are  called  "  olives."  The  handicraft 
of  the  Italian  coral-workers  includes  carving  of 
a  high  artistic  order — the  forms  representing 
many  natural  objects — and  the  cutting  of  beauti- 
ful cameos.  The  coral-gatherers  employ  fine  dis- 
tinction in  denominating  coral  tints.  Pure  white 
is  bianco,  fresh  pale  flesh-red  is  pelle  de  angelo; 
pale  rose,  rosa  pallido;  bright  rose,  rosa  vivo; 
these  choicest  tints  are  followed  by  "second 
colour,"  secondo  coloro;  red,  rosso;  dark  red, 
rosso  scuro;  and,  darkest  of  all  reds  carbonetto 
or  ariscuro. 

The  specific  gravity  of  precious  coral  is  2.6 
to  2.7;  hardness  in  Mohs's  scale  about  3-4. 
Coral  is  soft  enough  to  be  easily  worked  with 
a  file,  edged  tools,  and  on  a  lathe;  it  is  too  soft 
to  take  a  high  polish,  but  despite  that  dissimi- 
larity from  the  precious  stones  of  whose  com- 
pany it  is  a  popular  member,  its  fine  colour 
sustains  its  claim  to  beauty,  and  it  highly 
deserves  inclusion  in  a  book  of  gems. 

But  little  coral,  comparatively,  is  mounted  in 
Italy,  the  setting  being  done  in  the  fashion  in 
demand  in  the  country  where  it  appears  in  the 
jewelry  trade. 

In  the  Orient  coral  is  always  in  demand,  with 


io6       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

India  in  the  lead  followed  by  China  and  then 
Persia.  The  Chinese  mandarins  sometimes  pay 
incredible  sums  for  exceptionally  fine  coral 
buttons  for  their  caps. 

Pieces  of  coral  are  used  for  rich  and  costly 
handles  of  parasols  and  umbrellas;  the  coral 
handle  of  an  umbrella  belonging  to  the  Queen 
of  Italy  being  valued  at  nearly  two  thousand 
dollars.  A  coral  necklace  exhibited  in  1880  at 
the  International  Fisheries  Exhibition  held  at 
Berlin,  was  valued  at  nearly  twenty-nine  thou- 
sand dollars.  In  Italy  the  superstition  that  the 
wearing  of  coral  is  a  protection  against  the  evil 
eye,  accounts  for  its  appearance  as  the  common- 
est personal  ornament  among  the  masses;  simi- 
larly, it  is  in  evidence  among  the  lower  class 
of  Italians  in  the  United  States.  Coral  is 
easily  imitated,  however,  and  most  of  the  de- 
fences thus  relied  upon  by  superstitous  wearers 
are  spurious,  but  equal  to  the  genuine  in  efficacy. 
Red  gypsum  is  a  common  sophistication  for  pre- 
cious coral,  and  simple  tests  are:  scratching  it 
with  the  finger  nail  and  the  application  of  acid, 
under  which  it  does  not,  like  genuine  coral, 
effervesce.  Celluloid  is  now  sometimes  used  as 
a  substitute  for  coral. 

The   existence   of    coral    within    the    United 


Coral  107 

States,  on  the  shores  of  Little  Traverse  Bay,  at 
Petoskey,  Michigan,  should  not  escape  mention 
in  an  American  book.  The  coral  found  here  is 
fossil,  and  many  specimens  possess  rare  struc- 
tural beauty;  they  are  compact  and  susceptible 
to  a  high  polish.  The  fragments  found  are 
water-worn,  and  the  weight  of  some  masses  se- 
cured attained  to  three  pounds.  The  colour  is 
grey,  of  various  shades.  Local  lapidaries  cut 
and  polish  these  handsome  fossil  relics  of  a 
prehistoric  submarine  period,  and  shape  them 
into  seals,  charms,  cuff  buttons,  and  paper 
weights.  In  the  mineralogical  section  of  the 
reports  on  the  Eleventh  Census,  1900,  Mr. 
George  Frederick  Kunz  records  that  from  |4000 
to  |5000  worth  annually  were  sold. 


CHAPTER  X 

GAENET 


is  a  noun  that  is  applied  to  a 
variety  of  gem  minerals  red  or  brown- 
ish-red. Almandite,  a  stone  of  rich  cherry, 
claret,  or  blood-red  colour  is  the  precious  garnet. 
A  variety  of  garnet  recently  established  that  is 
in  high  favour  is  rhodolite.  The  chemical  bases 
of  both  of  these  leading  varieties  are  the  same, 
a  silicate  of  iron  and  aluminium.  Precious  gar- 
net has  a  hardness  of  about  7.5,  with  a  specific 
gravity  seldom  less  than  4.  and  occasionally  as 
high  as  4.3.  Closely  following  almandite,  or 
as  jewellers  call  it,  "  almandine,"  in  the  favour 
of  gem  fanciers,  is  Bohemian  garnet  or  pyrope, 
meaning  "fire-like";  this  has  a  range  of  colour 
from  a  deep  blood  red  to  almost  black.  Pyrope 
is  slightly  harder  than  almandite,  and  its  spe- 
cific gravity  lies  between  3.7  and  3.8.  The 
fracture  is  brittle;  refraction,  single;  lustre, 

108 


f 


* 


GARSET  CRYSTALS  AND  PEBBLES  OF  PYROPE 

SAPPHIRES 

DIAMOND  CRYSTALS   FROM  KIMBERLEY  MINES,   SOUTH   AFRICA 
Specimens  in  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum 


Garnet  109 

vitreous;  it  is  transparent  to  opaque.  Most 
varieties  of  garnet  fuse  to  brown  or  black  glass. 

In  Dana's  Mineralogy,  Garnet  is  Carbunculus 
dodecahedrus :  order  Hyalina.  In  crystallo- 
graphy the  primary  form  of  garnet  is  the  rhom- 
bic dodecahedron.  The  cleavage  is  indistinct 
parallel  with  the  faces  of  the  dodecahedron.  Be- 
sides the  primary  twelve-sided  form,  with  rhom- 
bic faces,  the  secondary  forms  of  garnet  crystals 
include  trapezohedrons — twenty-four-sided  forms 
— with  faces  shaped  like  trapeziums;  then  there 
are  combinations  of  these  forms,  one  of  which 
has  thirty-six  faces.  The  tendency  of  garnet  is 
to  crystallise  and  it  is  usually  found  in  crystals ; 
these  range  from  tiny  ones  the  size  of  a  grain 
of  sand  up  to  those  of  several  pounds  in  weight. 

The  name  garnet,  according  to  one  version,  is 
derived  from  the  Latin  granatus,  meaning  like 
a  grain,  because  of  the  resemblance  of  its  crys- 
tals in  size  and  colour  to  the  seeds  of  the 
pomegranate. 

A  carbuncle,  in  the  popular  conception,  is  a 
specific  precious  stone,  but  it  does  not  exist  in 
scientific  mineralogy,  and  in  the  verbiage  of 
dealers  now,  its  meaning  is  merely  any  worthy 
red  translucent  stone  cut  en  cabochon.  Some 
writers,  who  seem  otherwise  generally  well  in- 


no       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

formed,  have  fallen  into  this  common  error  of 
recognising  the  word  carbuncle  as  the  name  of 
a  specific  gem.  Probably  almost  any  fiery-red 
translucent  ornamental  stone  in  the  days  of  an- 
cient Rome  was  called  carbunculus,  derived  from 
carbo,  coal,  and  the  name  was  bestowed  because 
of  the  internal  fire-like  colour  and  reflection 
which  is  a  common  characteristic  of  the  various 
stones  now  generally  termed  garnets.  The  gar- 
net is  among  the  stones  earliest  mentioned  in  the 
surviving  literature  of  all  ancient  languages. 

Almandite  derives  its  names  from  Alabanda, 
a  city  in  the  ancient  district  of  Caria,  Asia 
Minor;  whence  garnets  were  introduced  to  an- 
cient Rome.  The  most  highly  valued  specimens 
of  almandite,  for  a  long  period,  came  from 
localities  not  known  to  the  western  world,  but 
they  were  supposed  to  be  mined  near  the  city 
of  "Sirian  "  in  old  Pegu  province,  Lower  Burma, 
and  were  called  "  Sirian  garnets."  So  careful 
an  investigator  and  high  an  authority  as  Dr. 
Max  Bauer,  in  his  monumental  work  on  pre- 
cious stones,  states  that  Syriam,  the  ancient 
capital  of  Pegu,  is  now  but  a  small  village  in 
the  British  province  of  Lower  Burma  near  the 
great  trade  centre  of  Rangoon.  A  resume  of 
the  facts  evolved  by  Dr.  Bauer  shows  that  no 


Garnet  m 

precious  almandite  occurs  in  any  part  of  Burma, 
while  in  Upper  Burma  the  only  red  stones 
found  are  ruby,  spinel,  and  red  tourmaline. 
Long  ago,  therefore,  Syriam  was  merely  a  dis- 
tributive point  for  garnets  brought  to  its  market 
from  a  distance,  possibly  from  the  Shan  states 
to  the  eastward.  The  "  Sirian  "  garnet  is  now 
merely  a  type;  it  tends  toward  a  violet  colour. 

In  northern  India  almandite  is  mined  on  an 
extensive  scale  in  several  localities.  The  stone 
is  found  in  the  Alps,  Australia,  and  Brazil;  a 
variety  too  opaque  to  be  very  valuable,  occurs 
plentifully  on  the  Stickeen  River  in  Alaska. 
Metamorphic  rocks,  such  as  gneisses  or  mica 
schists,  granite,  and  gem  gravels  are  the  usual 
environments  of  almandite. 

Rhodolite  is  an  intermediate  between  alman- 
dite and  pyrope,  more  closely  related  to  the 
latter,  but  differing  in  colour  from  both.  It 
is  found  as  water-worn  pebbles  in  the  gravels 
of  Cowee  Creek  and  Mason's  Branch,  Macon 
County,  North  Carolina;  sometimes  it  occurs 
along  with  ruby  in  a  decomposed,  basic  igneous 
rock,  known  as  "  saprolite " ;  a  curious  occur- 
rence is  in  the  form  of  small  crystals  enclosed 
in  crystals  of  ruby.  The  colour  resembles  that  of 
the  rhododendron,  from  which  this  but  recently 


ii2       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

recognised  precious  stone  was  christened  rhodo- 
lite. Although  mineralogically  different  from 
almandite,  and  more  like  pyrope,  rhodolite  is 
known  in  the  trade  as  "  almandine,"  and,  in 
the  United  States  at  least,  is  bought  and  sold 
under  that  title;  the  difference  in  composition 
and  colour  is  too  slight  for  merchant  jewellers 
to  recognise,  and  the  name  "rhodolite"  is 
scarcely  known  to  the  trade  or  the  general  pub- 
lic. In  fact,  in  the  jewelry  trade,  any  garnet 
with  a  tendency  toward  a  violet  colour  is  classed 
as  an  "  almandine."  Under  the  name  "  alman- 
dine," there  has  been  an  increased  demand  for 
this  variety  of  garnet  for  medium-priced  jew- 
elry for  about  five  years  previous  to  this  writing. 
Scarcely  second  to  almandite,  is  the  dark 
blood-red  pyrope,  found  in  company  with  the 
diamond  in  South  Africa,  and,  in  the  trade, 
called  "Cape  Ruby."  This  fine  South  African 
gem  stone,  companion  of  the  diamond  and  na- 
tive to  the  world's  greatest  diamond  fields,  is 
a  magnesium-aluminium  garnet,  containing 
manganese  oxide  and  ferrous  oxide;  its  specific 
gravity  is  3.86,  approximating  that  of  the  Bohe- 
mian pyrope,  which  it  resembles  in  both  chemical 
composition  and  colour,  thus  clearly  classing  it 
as  pyrope,  and  not  almandite,  as  was  done  for 


Garnet  113 

some  time  after  its  discovery.  In  the  trade  at 
present  this  variety  of  garnet  commands  a 
higher  price  than  any  other. 

Varieties  of  the  lime-aluminium  garnet  occa- 
sionally appear  in  gem-stone  commerce.  Lime- 
aluminium  garnet  has  a  hardness  of  2.7,  and  a 
specific  gravity  of  3.55  to  3.66.  Its  colours  are 
white,  pale  green,  amber,  honey,  wine,  brownish- 
yellow,  cinnamon,  brown,  and  pale  rose-red. 
The  varieties  include  essonite  and  cinnamon 
stone,  the  latter  often  improperly  called,  by 
merchants,  "  hyacinth."  The  gem  cinnamon 
stones  come  chiefly  from  Ceylon;  they  are  of 
a  cinnamon  brown,  or  range  from  that  to  a 
deep  gold  colour  tinged  with  brown.  Gros- 
sularite  includes  the  pale  green,  yellow  to  nearly 
white,  pale  pink,  reddish  or  orange,  and  brown 
kinds.  Komansovite  is  brown.  Wilnite  is  yel- 
lowish-green to  greenish- white.  Topazolite  is 
topaz,  to  citrine,  yellow.  Succinite  is  amber 
coloured.  There  are  two  kinds  of  calcium-iron 
or  green  garnets:  The  demantoid,  from  the 
Ural  Mountains,  Siberia,  has  a  hardness  of  6. 
to  6.5;  specific  gravity,  3.83  to  3.85.  Deman- 
toids  have  a  rich  green  colour  and  when  clear 
and  flawless  are  beautiful  lustrous  gems;  the 
choicest  are  called  "  divines."  The  other  green 


ii4       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

variety,  Uvarovite,  is  found  chiefly  in  Russia. 
Montana  ruby  is  a  trade  term  for  the  fine  gar- 
nets found  in  Montana  and  Arizona.  The  finest 
American  garnets  are  found  in  the  territory  of 
the  Navajo  nation  in  north-western  New  Mexico 
and  north-eastern  Arizona,  where  they  are  col- 
lected from  ant-hills  and  scorpions'  nests  by 
Navajo  Indians  and  sometimes  by  United  States 
soldiers  from  adjacent  forts.  According  to  the 
most  eminent  authority  on  American  gem  stones, 
Dr.  George  Frederick  Kunz,  these  red  stones, 
known  locally  as  Arizona  and  New  Mexico 
rubies,  are  unsurpassed,  equalling  in  value  those 
from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Fine  gems  weigh- 
ing two  and  three  carats,  after  cutting,  are  not 
rare.  By  artificial  light  the  American  stones 
are  superior  to  "  Cape  rubies."  These  American 
garnets  have  evidently  recently  weathered  out 
of  a  peridotic  rock. 

Another  type  of  garnet  is  known  as  spessar- 
tite,  a  variety  of  essonite,  in  which  part  of  the 
alumina  is  replaced  by  manganous  oxide.  The 
finest  specimens  of  this  variety  known  were 
discovered  at  Amelia  Court  House,  Virgina, 
which  locality  has  yielded  gems  weighing  from 
one  to  one  hundred  carats. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   OPAL 

TTHE  precious  opal  is  one  of  the  most  indi- 
•*  vidual  of  gems;  of  all  the  opaque  minerals, 
it  reveals  the  most  beautiful  play  of  colours,  in 
folklore  it  is  the  birth-stone  of  October  and  the 
symbol  of  hope,  and  yet,  for  years,  the  fame  of 
this  fire-flashing  stone  was  blackened  by  a  cloud 
of  superstition  which  condemned  it  as  unlucky; 
a  superstition  the  origin  of  which  is  obscure. 
For  a  time,  however,  it  largely  regained  its  lost 
popularity,  having  found  its  most  illustrious 
patron  in  Her  Majesty,  the  late  Queen  Victoria. 
Another  remarkable  fact  about  the  opal  is  that  it 
is  not  found  in  the  Orient — the  very  land  of 
gems. 

Opal,  in  mineralogy,  is  Hyalus  opalinus,  of 
the  order  Hyalina;  it  is  of  granular  structure; 
small  reniform  and  stalactitic  shapes  and  large 
tuberose-like  concretions;  hardness  5.5  to  6.5; 
specific  gravity  2  to  2.21;  lustre  vitreous,  some- 
times inclining  to  resinous  or  pearly;  streak, 


n6       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

white;  colour,  white,  yellow,  red,  brown,  green, 
or  gray.  The  colour  is  usually  pale,  due  to 
foreign  elements.  Some  opals  exhibit  a  rich 
play  of  colours,  while  others  present  different 
colours  by  refracted  and  reflected  light.  The 
cause  of  the  colour-play  is  the  physical  condi- 
tion resulting  from  a  multitude  of  fissures  hav- 
ing striated  sides  which  diffract  and  decompose 
the  light.  The  chemical  composition  of  the  opal 
is  ninety  per  cent,  silica  and  ten  per  cent,  water. 
Besides  precious  opal,  there  is  the  harlequin 
opal  which  presents  a  variegated  play  of  colours 
on  a  reddish  ground,  and  resembles  the  fire  opal 
which  shows  hyacinth  red  to  honey-yellow 
colours,  with  fire-like  reflections.  Girasol  is 
bluish-white  and  translucent,  and,  under  a 
strong  light,  presents  reddish  reflections.  Le- 
chosos  opal  is  a  variety  remarkable  for  flashes 
of  green.  Hydrophane,  a  light  coloured  opaque 
kind,  becomes  transparent  when  immersed  in 
water.  Cacholong  is  an  opaque  porcelain,  blu- 
ish, yellowish,  or  reddish  white.  Opal  agate 
has  an  agate-like  structure.  Jasp  opal  contains 
iron,  and  is  to  opal  as  jasper  is  to  quartz. 
Wood  opal  is  wood  silicified  by  opal.  Hyalite 
(Miiller's  glass)  is  colourless  and  clear,  or  trans- 
lucent and  a  bluish  white.  Moss  opal  contains 


The  Opal  117 

manganese  oxide,  and  is  to  opal  as  moss  agate 
is  to  quartz.  A  freakish  variety  of  opal  is 
tabasheer,  a  silica  deposited  within  the  joints 
of  bamboo;  it  is  absorbent,  and,  like  hydro- 
pi  lane,  becomes  transparent  when  immersed  in 
water. 

As  a  mineral,  opal  is  quite  common,  so  that 
an  amateur's  collection  of  minerals  can  include 
specimens  to  represent  opal — some  of  them  very 
beautiful,  too — at  small  cost,  or  for  the  effort 
of  prospecting,  in  many  localities.  The  vari- 
eties of  opal  are  many,  and  the  frequent  inclu- 
sion of  foreign  matter  invests  it  with  a  wonderful 
variety  of  colours.  The  silica  deposited  by 
nearly  all  natural  hot  waters  is  opalescent.  The 
Yellowstone  Park  geysers  shoot  up  around  cones 
of  opal  raised  by  the  constant  accretions  of 
silica  deposited  by  the  passing  hot  waters,  which 
fall  into  opal  basins  created  in  the  same  way. 
This  variety  of  opal  is  termed  geyserite.  There 
is  a  wide  gulf  in  values  between  precious  or 
noble  opal — the  gem  stone  quality — and  opal  in 
general. 

Opal  is  generally  found  filling  seams,  cavities, 
and  fissures  in  igneous  rocks,  also  embedded  in 
limestone  and  argillaceous  beds. 

Opals  of  a  quality  fit  for  use  as  ornamental 


n8       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

stones  are  found  in  many  lands.  Mines  in 
Czernowitza,  in  northern  Hungary,  long  pro- 
duced the  most  highly  valued  gem  opals  obtain- 
able. These  opals  are  often  known  as  "  Oriental 
opals,"  because  they  first  appeared  in  Holland 
through  Greek  and  Turkish  traders.  Despite 
the  trade  practice  of  applying  the  term  "  Orien- 
tal "  to  this  type  of  opals,  none  is  found  in  the 
Orient.  The  Hungarian  opals  were  undoubt- 
edly those  first  known  to  the  Romans.  The 
claim  is  made  that  Hungarian  opals  are  less 
likely  to  deteriorate  than  any  other  variety. 
Gem  opals  are  also  found  in  Australia,  Mexico, 
and  Honduras.  Although  opals  are  produced 
to  a  commercial  extent  in  several  Mexican 
states,  they  are  most  systematically  mined  in 
Queretaro,  where  the  opal  occurs  in  long  veins 
in  a  porphyritic  trachyte.  This  opal  mining 
has  created  a  somewhat  primitive  cutting  and 
polishing  industry  in  the  city  of  Queretaro.  The 
exporting  of  Honduras  opals — all  uncut — is  not 
extensive.  In  the  United  States  the  occurrence 
of  gem  opal  has  been  observed  in  the  John 
Davies  River,  Oregon,  and  near  Whelan,  be- 
tween the  Co3ur  d'Alene  and  Nez  Perces  Indian 
reservations,  almost  on  the  Idaho  line,  State  of 
Washington.  The  most  prolific  source  of  opals 


The  Opal  119 

in  recent  years  has  been  the  Australia  mines, 
the  most  prominent  being  White  Cliffs,  New 
South  Wales.  Extensive  mining  operations  are 
carried  on  there,  the  matrix  of  the  opal  being 
a  cretaceous  sandstone,  which  has  been  perme- 
ated by  hot  volcanic  waters.  The  output  of 
this  region  has  already  been  represented  by  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Opals  have  been  obtained  in 
commercial  quantities  at  localities  on  the  Barcoo 
River  and  Bulla  Creek,  Queensland,  and  are 
occasionally  found  in  West  Australia. 

The  admiration  of  the  ancients  for  the  opal 
is  expressed  by  Onomacritus,  writing  five  hun- 
dred years  B.C.,  who  remarks :  "  The  delicate 
colour  and  tenderness  of  the  opal  remind  me 
of  a  loving  and  beautiful  child."  Pliny,  whose 
voluminous  books  covered  so  wide  a  range,  and 
who  evidently  believed  himself  qualified  to  write 
about  anything,  wrote  of  the  opal :  "  It  is 
made  up  of  the  glories  of  the  most  precious 
gems,  and  to  describe  it  is  a  matter  of  inex- 
pressible difficulty."  The  ancients  esteemed  the 
opal  highly,  and  attributed  to  it  an  influence 
for  every  possible  good;  this  belief  outlasted  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  opal  is  recorded  as 
being  as  highly  valued  as  ever.  Then  arose  a 


1 20       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

superstition  that  the  fiery  stone  was  unlucky, 
and  this  became  prevalent  everywhere.  The 
cause  of  this  has  been  attributed  to  Walter 
Scott's  novel  Anne  of  Geierstein.  A  genuine 
reason  why  opal  may  have  come  to  be  regarded 
as  unlucky  by  its  possessors  is  its  mutability. 
The  changes  which  may  occur  in  the  opal  are 
not  only  numerous  but  freakish  and  uncanny. 
Brilliant  opals  have  lost  their  fires  and  lustre 
forever,  while  others  have  lost  and  recovered 
them.  In  other  cases  dull  specimens  have  sud- 
denly developed  brilliancy.  Mediocre  specimens 
will  sometimes,  when  moistened  with  oil  or 
water,  exhibit  a  fine  colour  play,  which  will  van- 
ish when  the  stones  dry,  and  this  peculiarity  has 
been  utilised  for  profit  by  dishonest  dealers.  A 
stone  thus  acquired  would  be  unlucky  for  the 
purchaser. 

Credit  for  the  reinstatement  of  the  opal  in 
public  favour  is  believed  by  the  author  to  be 
due  in  great  part  to  the  late  Queen  Victoria, 
who,  in  many  ways,  demonstrated  her  royal 
favour  for  the  stone  of  many  fires  and  colours, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Queen's  motive 
was  to  benefit  her  colonial  subjects  in  Australia, 
where  opals  had  been  discovered. 

Queen  Victoria  gave  to  each  of  her  daughters, 


The  Opal  .     121 

at  their  marriage,  opals,  and  this  and  other  acts 
which  signified  her  admiration  for  the  stone  and 
her  disdain  for  the  superstition  through  which 
its  reputation  had  fallen  into  evil  days  soon 
raised  opals  high  in  the  realm  of  precious 
stones;  the  result  being  that  Australian  exports 
of  opal  were  handsomely  increased  by  the  de- 
mand for,  and  shipment  of,  the  stone  thus  royally 
reinstated  to  its  ancient  high  estate  of  popular 
favour. 

It  is  but  a  just  appreciation  of  the  average 
high  intelligence  of  the  gem-purchasing  Ameri- 
can public,  to  state  that  opals  have  always  been 
appreciated  in  the  United  States  for  their 
merits,  and  that  here  the  dread  tabu  of  "un- 
lucky "  has  had  the  least  effect.  And  it  may  be 
said  that  it  is  on  their  merits  they  are  judged, 
for  the  demand  has  latterly  distinctly  decreased 
for  the  inferior  grades  of  opals  that  formerly  sold 
readily,  while  choice  gems  are  sought  for,  and 
American  purchasers  prove  themselves  well 
posted  and  very  discriminating. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  TOPAZ 

VfELLOW  is  the  colour  generally  associated 
*  with  the  topaz,  yet  topaz  is  sometimes 
colourless,  or  may  present  almost  any  colour, 
and  beautiful  specimens  of  other  colours  are 
often  supposed  to  be  some  other  mineral,  so 
thoroughly  identified  is  this  stone  with  the 
colour  yellow.  The  sometime  popularity  of  to- 
paz has  of  late  years  declined,  and  a  probable 
reason  is  the  common  substitution  of  other 
stones  for  it.  Topaz  takes  its  name  from 
Topazios,  meaning  "  to  seek  " ;  because  the  earli- 
est known  locality  from  whence  it  came  was 
an  island  in  the  Red  Sea  which  was  often  sur- 
rounded by  fog,  and  therefore  difficult  for  the 
local  mariners  to  find. 

The  name  of  topaz  in  mineralogical  science 
is  Topas  rhombicus,  and,  like  the  opal,  it  be- 
longs to  the  order  Hyalina.  The  primary  form 
of  topaz  in  crystallography  is  a  right  rhombic 
prism.  Its  cleavage  is  parallel  to  its  basal 

122 


The  Topaz  123 

plane,  almost  perfect,  and  it  cleaves  so  easily 
that  a  cut  topaz,  if  dropped,  might  be  easily 
cracked  or  broken.  The  crystallisation  of  topaz 
is  imperfect;  structure,  columnar;  lustre,  vitre- 
ous; streak,  white.  Topaz  is  either  transparent 
or  translucent;  the  colours  of  topaz  including 
wine,  amber,  honey,  and  straw-yellow,  pale  blue 
to  pale  green  of  many  shades,  greyish,  reddish, 
and  white.  Rolled  pebbles  of  limpid  colourless 
topaz  are  called  by  Brazilians  "  pingas  d'agoa" 
and  by  the  French,,  "  gouttes  d'eau,"  both  mean- 
ing drops  of  water.  The  coloured  varieties 
show  marked  pleochroism.  The  fracture  of  this 
mineral  is  conchoidal  and  uneven. 

True  topaz  is  a  silicate  of  alumina,  contain- 
ing hydroxl  and  fluorine;  hardness,  8;  specific 
gravity,  3.4  to  3.6.  Being  three  and  one  half 
times  as  heavy  as  water,  topaz  can  be  readily 
distinguished  from  other  stones  resembling  it 
by  those  accustomed  to  handling  them.  Topaz 
cannot  be  fused  on  charcoal  before  the  blowpipe, 
but  it  is  partially  decomposed  by  sulphuric 
acid.  Its  hardness  enables  it  to  take  a  high 
polish,  and  the  colourless  variety  has  been  cut 
in  brilliant  or  rose  form  so  as  to  resemble  the 
diamond,  for  which  it  might  readily  pass  in  day- 
light. However,  it  is  but  weakly  doubly 


124       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

refractive  and  dispersive,  and  its  comparative 
softness  makes  its  distinction  from  the  diamond 
a  simple  matter.  Although  infusible,  when  suf- 
ficiently heated,  the  faces  of  crystallisation  of 
topaz  become  covered  with  small  blisters  which 
crack  as  soon  as  formed;  and  with  borax  it 
slowly  forms  a  clear  glass.  Some  varieties 
assume  a  wine  yellow  or  pink  tinge  when 
heated.  The  rose-pink  topaz  sometimes  appear- 
ing mounted  in  jewelry,  is  not  natural;  the 
delicate  tint  of  this  gem  with  an  artificial  com- 
plexion results  from  a  simple  process  called 
"  pinking,"  applied  to  yellow  or  brown  kinds. 
A  topaz  selected  to  be  "pinked "  is  packed  in 
magnesia,  asbestos,  or  lime,  and  carefully  and 
gradually  heated  to  a  low  red  heat;  the  stone 
then  being  slowly  cooled.  If  the  temperature 
attained  has  not  been  sufficiently  high,  the  de- 
sired rose-petal  tint  is  not  obtained  and  a  sal- 
jnon  tint  appears;  if  the  temperature  rises  too 
high,  or  is  too  long  continued,  the  colour  com- 
pletely disappears.  Pulverised  topaz  changes 
to  green  the  blue  solution  of  violets.  Topaz  gen- 
erally becomes  electric  by  heat,  and  if  both  ter- 
minations of  the  subject  specimen  are  perfect, 
polarity  will  be  developed ;  transparent  varieties 
are  susceptible  to  electrical  excitation  by  friction. 


The  Topaz  125 

Several  minerals  are  commonly  called  topaz; 
yellow  sapphire  is  called  "  Oriental  topaz " ; 
and  varieties  of  quartz  are  called  "  Saxon," 
"  Scotch,"  «  Spanish,"  "  Smoky,"  and  "  False  " 
topaz.  The  hardness,  weight,  and  power  of  de- 
veloping frictional  electricity,  possessed  by  the 
true  topaz,  enable  investigators  to  distinguish 
real  topaz  from  these  nominal  varieties. 

Topaz  commonly  occurs  in  gneiss  or  granite, 
associated  with  tourmaline,  mica,  or  beryl,  and 
occasionally  with  apatite,  fluor-spar,  and  tin. 
The  purest  variety  of  topaz,  perfectly  colourless 
and  pellucid,  is  not  uncommon;  as  crystals  it 
is  found  in  Miask,  in  the  Ural  Mountains, 
Siberia,  and,  abundantly,  as  water-worn  peb- 
bles, in  the  river  and  creek  beds  of  Diamantina 
and  Minas  Novas  in  the  state  of  Minas  Geraes, 
Brazil.  Mineralogists  regard  the  "  Braganza," 
a  gem  claimed  to  be  a  diamond,  included  in  the 
crown  jewels  of  Portugal,  and  weighing  1680 
carats,  as  one  of  these  pebbles;  probably  one  of 
the  finest  ever  found.  A  sobriquet  for  these 
clear  colourless  topazes  is  "slave's  diamonds." 
Blue  topaz  from  Brazil  is  sometimes  termed 
"  Brazilian  sapphire."  A  fine  saffron-yellow 
variety,  called  "  Indian  topaz,"  occurs  infre- 
quently in  Ceylon,  and  rarely,  in  Brazil;  the 


126       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

golden  yellow  tinted  variety  from  Brazil  is  the 
kind  distinguished  in  the  jewelry  trade  as 
"  Brazilian  topaz."  Schneckenstein,  near  Got- 
tesberg,  in  the  vicinity  of  Auerbach,  Voigtland, 
Kingdom  of  Saxony,  is  said,  by  Dr.  Max  Bauer, 
to  be  the  most  important  European  locality 
producing  topaz;  it  is  there  imbedded  in  a  steep 
wall  of  rock,  and  occurs  in  small  fragments  of 
schists  rich  in  tourmaline,  cemented  firmly  into 
a  hard  mass  by  quartz  and  topaz.  Brazil  is 
the  main  source  of  topaz,  and  a  review  of  the 
localities,  association,  and  varieties  of  its  estab- 
lished occurrence  there  would  require  an  ex- 
tensive space. 

In  North  America  topaz  is  found  to  an  ex- 
tent of  small  commercial  importance  in  Mexico. 
In  the  United  States  it  occurs  more  abundantly, 
although  gem-quality  is  rare.  Colorado  has 
yielded  the  best  specimens  from  localities  in 
Chaffee  County  and  El  Paso  County,  on  Chey- 
enne Mountain  and  elsewhere  in  the  region  of 
Pike's  Peak.  Small  but  brilliant  crystals  have 
been  found  at  Thomas  Mountain,  Sevier  County, 
Utah.  At  Bald  Mountain,  North  Chatham, 
New  Hampshire,  topaz  occurs,  with  phenacite,  in 
crystals. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

TURQUOISE 

TURQUOISE  is  a  popular  gem  mineral  to- 
day, as  it  was  anciently  with  the  Persians 
and  the  Aztecs,  whose  name  for  it  was  chalchi- 
huitl.  Turquoise  is  a  French  word,  meaning  a 
Turkish  stone,  also  the  feminine  of  Turkish. 
Turquoise  is  an  amorphous  stone  occurring  in 
kidney-shaped  nodules  and  incrustations;  its 
colour  is  various  shades  of  azure  or  robin's  egg 
blue.  Of  Persian  origin,  it  is  supposed  to  be 
the  stone  anciently  referred  to,  in  Pliny's  nat- 
ural history,  as  callais,  callaina,  and  callaica. 
In  his  catalogue  of  gems  in  the  United  States 
National  Museum,  Wirt  Tassin  applies  to  tur- 
quoise the  names  callainite  and  turkis;  Cat- 
telle  says  it  is  known  to  scientists  as 
"  callaite  " ;  Oliver  Cummings  Farrington  in  his 
Gems  and  Gem  Minerals  describes  callainite  as 
a  distinct  mineral. 

The  hardness  of  turquoise  is  6;  specific  grav- 
ity, 2.6  to  2.8;  there  is  no  cleavage;  it  is  brittle 

187 


128       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

and  breaks  unevenly.  The  lustre  of  turquoise 
tis  waxy  and  the  colour  is  sky-blue,  bluish-green, 
apple-green,  and  greenish-gray.  The  colour  is 
liable  to  change,  however,  the  blue  becoming  a 
pale  green.  Artificial  means  are  resorted  to 
for  "  improving "  stones  of  a  poor  colour,  but 
a  washing  in  strong  ammonia  water  will  expose 
the  fraud.  This  solution  will  not  affect  the 
colour  of  the  true  turquoise,  but  as  soap  and 
water  does,  possessors  of  rings  set  with  tur- 
quoise should  never  wash  their  hands  without 
removing  their  rings. 

The  chemical  composition  of  the  turquoise  is 
a  hydrous  phosphate  of  aluminium  and  copper, 
and  the  principal  components  in  a  hundred 
parts  are:  phosphoric  acid,  30.9;  alumina, 
44.50;  oxide  of  copper,  3.75;  water,  19. 

The  exposure  of  turquoise  to  a  sufficiently 
high  degree  of  heat  will  extract  the  water  and 
cause  it  to  crackle. 

The  turquoise  most  highly  prized  comes  from 
Persia,  and  the  most  celebrated  are  those  from 
an  old  mine,  the  Abdurrezzagi  in  a  district  of 
the  Nishapur  province  in  the  north-eastern 
part  of  the  country.  Less  valued  specimens 
come  from  Asia  Minor,  Turkestan,  and  the 
Kirghiz  Steppes.  The  Egyptians  mined  tur- 


Turquoise  129 

quoise  in  the  Wady  Maghara,  in  the  desert  of 
Sinai.  Specimens  from  Arabia  in  modern  times 
proved  of  little  value,  fading  quickly  when  ex- 
posed to  the  light.  The  mineral  has  also  been 
found  in  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales.  The 
United  States  is  constantly  growing  in  import- 
ance as  a  source  for  supply  for  the  world 
market  for  turquoise.  A  trachytic  rock  in  the 
Los  Cerillos  Mountains  near  Santa  F6,  aborigi- 
nally worked  by  the  natives,  is  a  well-known 
mine,  and  some  beautiful  specimens  have  re- 
cently been  found  there.  Other  localities  are 
Turquoise  Mountain,  Cochise  County,  and  Min- 
eral Park,  Mojave  County,  Arizona;  Columbus, 
Nevada;  Holy  Cross  Mountain,  Colorado;  and 
Fresno  and  San  Bernardino  counties,  California. 
Record  specimens  come  from  the  mines  of  the 
Azure  Mining  Company,  Burro  Mountains,  New 
Mexico. 

Because  of  the  opacity  of  turquoise,  it  is  sel- 
dom cut  with  facets,  but  in  a  round  or  oval 
form,  with  convex  surface;  as  the  pieces  suit- 
able for  cutting  seldom  reach  a  large  size  big 
turquoise  gems  are  almost  unknown.  Turquoise 
matrix  is  also  used  now  for  medium  class  jew- 
elry, the  cutting  including  both  the  stone  and 
its  matrix.  The  turquoise  in  a  dark-brown 


130       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

matrix  is  much  fancied  for  this  purpose,  as  the 
mottling  of  brown  in  the  blue  produces  a  very 
rich  effect.  The  matrix  of  gems  from  some 
American  mines  is  flinty,  and  both  the  gem  and 
the  matrix  are  very  hard  which  affords  possi- 
bilities of  a  high  polish,  but  as  the  flint  some- 
times penetrates  the  turquoise  it  is  apt  to 
break  it. 

Occidental  turquoise,  formerly  used  exten- 
sively, is  odontolite,  made  from  fossil  bone, 
coloured  by  a  phosphate  of  iron;  it  is  still  mined 
to  a  small  extent  in  the  vicinity  of  Simor,  Lower 
Languedoc,  France.  This  western  "  turquoise  " 
loses  its  colour  in  artificial  light,  and,  when 
heated,  gives  off  an  offensive  odour  caused  by 
the  decomposition  of  animal  matter.  Its  weight 
is  lighter  than  that  of  turquoise,  and  it  does 
not  give  a  blue  colour,  with  ammonia,  when 
dissolved  in  hydrochloric  acid,  like  the  genuine. 
f  The  conditions  peculiar  to  the  demand  for 
turquoise  at  present  in  America  are  like  those 
affecting  opals;  the  very  choicest  specimens  are 
highly  prized  and  readily  sold,  while  the  aver- 
age specimens  are  considered  with  indifference. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
CAT'S-EYE 

/^AT'S-EYE  is  a  well  established  term  in  the 
^->  trade  in  precious  stones,  and  more  than 
one  mineral  which  exhibits  chatoyancy — a 
French  word  signifying  a  changeable,  undulat- 
ing lustre,  like  the  eye  of  a  cat  in  the  dark — 
is  termed,  and  sold  as  "  cat's-eye." 

The  true  cat's-eye  is  cymophane,  a  variety  of 
chrysoberyl,  a  mineral  resembling  beryl  in  con- 
taining the  element  glucinum  (beryllium),  but 
otherwise  distinct.  Chrysoberyl  is  devoid  of 
silica,  which  beryl  possesses,  and  is,  theoretic- 
ally, composed  of  glucina,  19.8  and  alumina, 
80.2.  Jewellers  variously  call  chrysoberyl 
"cat's-eye,"  "Oriental  cat's-eye,"  or  "  Cey- 
lonese  cat's-eye."  Besides  its  principal  com- 
ponents, chrysoberyl  frequently  contains  im- 
purities such  as  iron  and  chromium  oxides. 
Chrysoberyl  is  very  hard — 8.5,  being  third  in 
Mohs's  scale  to  the  diamond,  and  when  cut  is 

susceptible  of  a  high  polish.     Heavier  than  the 
131 


132       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

diamond,  the  specific  gravity  of  chrysoberyl 
ranges  from  3.5  to  3.8.  Chrysoberyl  crystallises 
in  the  rhombic  system  and  commonly  appears 
in  complicated  twin  crystals.  This  peculiar 
mineral  has  no  distinct  cleavage,  but  has  a  con- 
choidal  fracture;  it  is  brittle;  acids  will  not 
attack  it;  it  is  infusible  before  the  blowpipe; 
it  can  be  electrified  positively,  by  friction,  and 
will  remain  charged  for  several  hours.  Lustre 
vitreous  to  slightly  greasy.  Chrysoberyl  is 
transparent  to  opaque,  but  is  only  transparent 
when  cut  and  polished;  it  is  doubly,  but  not 
strongly,  refractive.  The  limited  range  of 
colour  in  Brazilian  specimens  is  from  pale 
yellowish-green  to  golden  yellow  and  brownish- 
yellow.  Crystals  from  the  Ural  Mountains  vary 
from  an  intense  green  to  grass-green  or  emerald- 
green — the  latter  variety  is  alexandrite. 

The  distinction  of  cymophane  from  ordinary 
chrysoberyl  is  its  chatoyancy,  which  appears  as 
a  milky-white,  bluish  or  greenish-white,  or,  more 
rarely,  golden-yellow  sheen  which  follows  every 
movement  of  the  stone;  this  characteristic  is 
most  strongly  developed  by  cutting  the  stone 
convex,  and  therefore  cat's-eye  is  cut  en  cabo- 
chon.  A  silvery  line  or  streak  of  light  extends 
across  the  curved  surface  and  is  most  strongly 


Cat's-Eye  133 

defined  in  a  strong  light,  while  its  boundaries 
are  sharpest  in  small  stones.  The  effect  of  the 
ehatoyancy  is  in  great  part  due  to  the  judicious 
work  of  the  lapidary,  and  usually  the  greatest 
possible  effect  is  produced  by  the  greatest  curva- 
ture of  the  surface.  Chatoyancy  appears  only 
in  the  cloudy  chrysoberyl,  and  the  cloudiness 
is  due  to  thousands  of  microscopically  small 
cavities  within  the  stone.  The  influence  of  the 
whims  and  preferences  of  royalty  on  the  popu- 
larity of  gems  was  remarkably  illustrated  by 
the  sudden  favour  with  which  chrysoberyl  cat's- 
eye  was  invested,  when  His  Royal  Highness,  the 
Duke  of  Connaught,  gave  his  fiancee  a  ring  set 
with  this  stone,  which  vastly  increased  the  de- 
mand for  it  and  caused  a  corresponding  rise  in 
price. 

The  Minas  Novas  district  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  state  of  Minas  Geraes,  Brazil,  is 
the  most  prolific  producer  of  chrysoberyl  of 
the  finest  colours;  most  of  the  specimens  are 
chatoyant.  The  mineral  in  this  locality  occurs 
associated  with  rock  crystal,  amethyst,  red 
quartz,  green  tourmaline,  yellowish-red  (vine- 
gar) spinel,  garnet,  euclase  and  white  and 
blue  topaz.  Chrysoberyl  is  erroneously  inden- 
tified  with,  and  termed,  chrysolite  by  the  Brazil- 


134       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

ians,  and  this  error  is  prevalent  in  the  trade 
in  precious  stones  and  jewelry,  almost  every- 
where. The  usual  tests,  the  scale  of  hardness 
especially,  will  promptly  differentiate  chryso- 
lite. The  source  of  supply  of  cymophane  and 
non-chatoyant  chrysoberyl  second  in  importance 
to  Brazil,  is  the  island  of  Ceylon.  The  cat's- 
eye  record  for  size  was  long  held  by  a  Ceylonese 
specimen,  and,  until  the  year  1815,  this  was  a 
jewel  in  the  crown  of  the  King  of  Kandy.  The 
weight  of  the  Ceylon  stones  ranges  from  one 
to  one  hundred  carats;  they  are  found  in  com- 
pany with  sapphires  in  gem-gravels,  chiefly  in 
the  Suffragan  district  and  the  vicinity  of  Matura 
in  the  south  of  the  island.  To  a  small  extent, 
chatoyant  chrysoberyl  is  mined  in  the  Ural 
Mountains  of  Siberia. 

Among  the  numerous  minerals  which  when 
fibrous,  or  cut  across  the  cleavage  and  convex, 
will  exhibit  the  opalescent  ray  resembling  the 
contracted  pupil  of  the  eye  of  a  cat,  are 
beryl,  corundum,  crocidolite,  dumortierite, 
quartz,  filled  with  acicular  crystals  or  fibrous 
minerals,  such  as  actinolite,  byssolite,  or  horn- 
blende; hypersthene,  enstatite,  bronzite,  arago- 
nite,  gypsum,  labradorite,  limonite,  and 
hematite.  These  may  be  opaque,  translucent,  or 


Cat's-Eye  135 

transparent  and  of  any  colour  or  colours.  Per- 
haps the  commonest  of  these  minerals  is  the 
quartz  cat's-eye,  which  falls  far  short  of  rivalling 
the  brilliancy  and  soft  colouring  of  cymophane. 
The  shades  of  this  variety  of  quartz  are  green- 
ish, yellowish-grey,  and  brown.  Simple  tests 
will  distinguish  this  mineral  from  cymophane, 
as  its  hardness  is  but  6  to  7  and  its  specific 
gravity,  2.6.  This  quartz  melts  with  soda  to  a 
clear  glass,  is  soluble  in  hydrofluoric  acid,  and 
is  not  dichroic;  its  chief  components  are  silicon 
and  oxygen.  Cut  en  cabochon,  a  band  of  light  ap- 
pears across  the  parallel  fibres  of  asbestos  which 
the  quartz  contains. 

Tiger-eye,  in  the  trade,  is  considered  sepa- 
rately from  cat's-eye,  but  as  chatoyancy  is  its 
chief  characteristic,  it  may  as  well  be  included 
here  and,  as  its  present  commercial  value  is 
low  and  the  demand  for  it  is  small,  it  can  be 
summarily  described  and  dismissed.  The  proper 
term  for  the  mineral  known  as  "  tiger-eye "  is 
crocidolite,  a  name  derived  from  the  Greek  and 
meaning  "  woof,"  in  allusion  to  its  fibrous 
structure.  Crocidolite  is  a  fibrous  asbestos- 
like  mineral.  Its  colours  are  gold-yellow, 
ranging  to  yellowish-brown,  indigo  to  greenish- 
blue,  leek-green  and  a  dull  red.  The  blue  is 


136       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

usually  distinguished  as  "  hawk's-eye."  Croci- 
dolite  contains  a  siliceous  base,  usually  a  fer- 
ruginous quartz,  and  when  cut  highly  convex 
with  the  longer  diameter  of  the  oval  at  right 
angles  to  the  direction  of  the  fibres,  the  cat's- 
eye  ray  is  strongly  apparent.  Crocidolite  con- 
tains: silica,  51;  iron  oxides,  34;  soda,  7; 
magnesia,  2;  water,  3.  Hardness  4  to  7  and 
specific  gravity  3.26.  The  best  specimens  are 
found  in  the  Orange  River  region  and  Griqua- 
land,  South  Africa. 

Tiger-eye  is  well  adapted  to,  and  has  been 
largely  used  for  carving  cameos  and  intaglios; 
it  was  very  popular  from  about  the  year  1880 
to  1890  in  the  United  States. 

The  stones  distinguished  as  chatoyant  some- 
times include  alexandrite,  a  variety  of  chryso- 
beryl,  strongly  dichroic  and  sometimes  trichroic. 
Mr.  Edwin  W.  Streeter,  in  his  book  Precious 
Stones  and  Gems,  states  that  he  has  seen 
specimens  of  alexandrite  with  a  perfect  cat's-eye 
line,  yet  subject  to  the  change  of  colour  by 
artificial  light  characteristic  of  this  mineral. 
To  display  the  ray,  the  stone  is  of  course  cut 
convex  instead  of  with  six  facets.  This  stone 
was  discovered  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  Siberia, 
in  the  year  1830,  on  an  anniversary  of  the  birth- 


Cat's-Eye  137 

day  of  the  Czar  Alexander  II.,  of  Russia,  for 
whom  it  was  named.  Alexandrite  has  marked 
hues  of  red  and  green,  the  national  colours  of 
Russia;  by  daylight  it  shows  a  bright  or  deep 
olive-green  colour,  but  in  artificial  light  a  soft 
columbine  red  or  raspberry  red  or  raspberry 
tint.  One  description  of  this  gem  includes  the 
phrase  "  it  is  an  emerald  by  day  and  an  ame- 
thyst by  night."  Subsequent  to  the  discovery  of 
alexandrite  in  the  Urals,  the  same  gem  mineral, 
but  of  a  better  and  more  workable  quality,  was 
discovered  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  which  is  the 
present  principal  source  of  supply. 


CHAPTER  XV 

CHEYSOPEASE 

/^HRYSOPRASE  is  the  chief  of  two  varieties 
^-^  of  hornstone  which  are  cut  as  ornamental 
stones,  the  other  being  wood-stone  or  silicifled 
wood,  such  as  is  obtained  from  the  petrified 
forest  known  as  Chalcedony  Park,  in  Arizona, 
and  which  occurs  abundantly  in  various  moun- 
tainous localities  in  the  western  United  States. 
Hornstone  is  an  old  mining  term  and  is  not 
used  by  lapidaries.  It  is  a  fine-grained,  very 
compact,  variety  of  quartz,  of  a  granular 
consistency. 

The  name  chrysoprase  is  derived  from  two 
Greek  words,  meaning  golden  leek,  and  describes 
the  colour  of  the  stone.  The  ancients  ascribed  to 
it  the  virtues  of  the  emerald,  though  in  a  lesser 
degree.  They  believed  it  lost  its  colour  when 
in  contact  with  poison,  and  was  a  cordial  and 
stimulant. 

A  characteristic  of  chrysoprase  is  its  splintery 

fracture;  the  sharp  edges  of  fragments  verging 

138 


Chrysoprase  139 

on  translucency.  The  approved  tints  of  chryso- 
prase  are  leek  and  apple  green,  although  the 
blue,  golden-green,  and  other  yellowish  tints  are 
occasionally  used.  The  colours  remain  stead- 
fast in  artificial  light.  The  colour  owes  its 
presence  to  about  one  per  cent,  of  nickel,  prob- 
ably in  the  form  of  a  hydrated  silicate;  the  loss 
of  water  through  heating  the  stone  but  mod- 
erately, causes  it  to  pale  gradually,  until  it  ends 
in  a  total  loss  of  colour.  A  long  exposure  to 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  will  produce  a  like 
effect,  but  the  cause  will  be  the  strong  light 
and  not  the  heat.  The  brittleness  of  chryso- 
prase  presents  difficulties  to  the  lapidary;  it  is 
usually  cut  en  cdbochon,  or  else  with  a  plane 
surface  bordered  with  one  or  two  courses  of 
facets.  Although  its  intrinsic  value  is  less  than 
it  was  formerly,  chrysoprase  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  varieties  of  quartz  in  the  ornamental 
stone  field,  and  is  highly  esteemed  among  the 
semi-precious  stones. 

Chrysoprase  occurs  in  plates  and  veins, 
usually  locked  in  serpentine,  and  its  most  an- 
cient and  common  source  is  a  district  south  of 
Breslau  in  the  province  of  Silesia,  Germany. 
According  to  an  account  published  in  1805,  a 
vein  of  chrysoprase  three  (German)  miles  long 


140       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

was  discovered  in  1740  by  a  Prussian  officer. 
The  real  discovery  probably  long  preceded  this, 
because  chrysoprase,  used  decoratively,  has  ex- 
isted in  the  Wenzel  Chapel,  Prague,  since  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  leek-green  stone  is  found 
in  a  few  other  unimportant  localities  in  Europe, 
also  India,  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  Siberia,  and 
it  occurs  in  various  places  in  North  America; 
one  is  at  Nickel  Mountain  near  Riddle,  Douglas 
County,  Oregon,  but  the  most  important  mines 
are  those  of  the  Himalaya  Mining  Company, 
about  eight  miles  from  Visalia  in  Tulare  County, 
California. 

Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia  highly  fa- 
voured and  evinced  a  great  interest  in  this 
beautiful  stone;  possibly  this  was  to  some  ex- 
tent because  it  originated  in  Silesia,  which  be- 
came his  conquered  territory  in  1745,  after  his 
second  Silesian  war.  Frederick  had  two  famous 
tables  made  of  chrysoprase,  and  had  it  utilised  in 
mosaics.  P>asking  in  the  sunlight  of  royal  fa- 
vour, chrysoprase  grew  in  popularity,  which  its 
native  merits  have  always,  to  a  considerable 
degree,  sustained. 

A  charming  Roumanian  legend  ascribes  the 
discovery  of  chrysoprase  in  the  rocky  bed  of 
the  Riul  Doamnei,  a  beautiful  stream,  to  a  Prin- 


Chrysoprase  141 

cess  Trioa,  who,  to  succour  her  people  in  time 
of  dire  famine,  stripped  herself  of  all  her  pos- 
sessions but  a  pitiful  last  piece  of  jewelry,  a 
golden  lizard  with  green  eyes  of  chrysoprase, 
given  to  the  princess  on  her  wedding  day  by 
her  deceased  mother.  A  wizard  admonished  the 
princess  never  to  part  with  the  lizard,  because 
it  would  some  day  bring  untold  riches,  and  be- 
sides that,  whoever  possessed  any  leek-green 
chrysoprase  would,  in  time  of  great  distress, 
understand  the  language  of  animals.  Reduced 
to  the  verge  of  selling  her  last  treasure  by  the 
unbearable  sight  of  the  sufferings  of  the  chil- 
dren of  her  starving  people,  the  good  Princess 
Trina  was  weeping  and  praying  at  a  window, 
when  a  tiny  lizard  with  glittering  green  eyes 
darted  into  the  room,  and,  in  a  silver  voice  and 
lacertilian  language,  which  the  princess  by 
virtue  of  her  talisman  understood  perfectly, 
said :  "  Help  shall  arise  for  thee  out  of  a  river : 
Only  seek." 

Thus  admonished  the  princess  wandered 
through  the  stony  bed  of  one  river  after  an- 
other wearing  out  her  eyes,  her  strength,  and 
her  soul,  in  the  search;  until,  when  about  to 
succumb  to  exhaustion,  she  discovered  a  vast 
treasure  of  chrysoprase,  thus  ending  the  famine 


142       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

and   inaugurating   an    unprecedented   reign    of 
prosperity  for  her  beloved  people. 

Besides  the  remarkable  understanding  of  the 
lizard's  speech  by  the  princess,  another  mira- 
culous occurrence  is  connected  with  this  dis- 
covery: from  that  day  to  this,  the  waters  of 
the  Riul  Doamnei  have  remained  a  leek-green, 
as  can  be  easily  proved  to  any  one  visiting  the 
place. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

JADE 

JADE  is  a  verdant  mineral  known  to  man 
for  ages,  and  used  for  personal  ornaments, 
weapons,  implements,  art  objects,  and  applied 
to  interior  decoration.  The  word  emerald,  so 
frequently  appearing  in  ancient  writings,  is  be- 
lieved to  have  sometimes  meant  jade — an  opaque 
to  translucent  mineral — and  unlike  the  emerald 
in  anything,  excepting  a  slight  resemblance  in 
colour.  The  word  "  jade "  is  now  a  generic 
term  applied  to  various  mineral  substances,  as 
chloro-melanite,  or  jadeite,  nephrite,  saussurite, 
pseudo-nephrite;  these  minerals  are  character- 
ised by  toughness,  compactness  of  texture,  and 
a  colour  range  from  cream  white  to  dark  green 
and  nearly  black.  Although  appearing  in  the 
trade  in  precious  stones  and  jewelry,  in  the 
art  objects  of  every  land,  and  although  exten- 
sively imitated — sometimes  in  a  fashion,  how- 
ever, that  could  deceive  no  one — "jade"  is 
nowhere  prized  and  appreciated  so  much  as  in 
143 


144       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

the  Chinese  Empire;  and  wherever  on  the  globe 
adventurous  Chinese  roam  or  locate  it  is  always 
found  as  one  of  their  most  cherished  posses- 
sions. Properly  the  term  "  jade  "  includes  but 
two  minerals;  nephrite  and  jadeite.  Nephrite 
is  Nephrus  amorphous  of  the  order  Chalicinea, 
according  to  Dana's  system  of  mineralogy.  The 
name  is  from  a  Greek  word  meaning  a  kidney; 
the  ancient  Greeks  believing  this  mineral  to 
possess  the  virtue  of  a  specific  remedy  for  all 
diseases  of  the  kidneys,  as,  indeed,  the  Chinese 
believe  now,  and  have  for  centuries.  Jade  is 
massive,  of  fine  granular  or  impalpable  sub- 
stance; hardness,  6.5;  specific  gravity,  2.96  to 
3.1;  lustre,  vitreous;  streak,  white;  colour,  leek- 
green,  passing  into  blue,  grey,  and  white;  trans- 
lucent to  sub-translucent;  fracture,  coarse  and 
splintery.  An  average  specimen  contains  silica, 
50;  magnesia,  31;  alumina,  10;  oxide  of  iron, 
5.5;  and  nearly  three  per  cent,  of  water,  with 
a  tinge  of  chrome  oxide.  Jade  is  infusible  be- 
fore the  blowpipe,  but  becomes  white;  with 
borax  it  forms  clear  glass. 

Jadeite  is  a  tough,  fibrous  foliated,  to  closely 
compact,  mineral,  grouped  with  the  pyroxenes; 
hardness,  6.5  to  7;  specific  gravity,  3.33  to  3.35. 
Jadeite  will  fuse  readily  before  the  blowpipe  to 


Jade  145 

a  transparent  glass  containing  bubbles  or  blis- 
ters. A  variety  that  is  dark  green  verging  on 
black  is  termed  chloromelanite.  Weapons  and 
ornaments  carved  in  jadeite  in  prehistoric  times 
are  found  on  every  continent.  But  few  of  the 
localities  from  whence  the  mineral  came  that 
supplied  raw  material  for  these  unnamed  ar- 
tisans and  artists,  are  known ;  the  most  import- 
ant is  in  the  vicinity  of  Mogoung  in  Upper 
Burma,  where  it  occurs  in  boulders  embedded 
in  a  reddish-yellow  clay  in  river  valleys.  The 
jadeite  miners  crack  the  boulders  by  heating, 
and  the  pieces  found  of  merchantable  quality 
are  either  sawed  into  the  required  shapes  by 
slender  steel  saws,  kept  tense  by  bamboo  bows, 
or  sold  as  found  to  traders  who  come  in  cara- 
vans from  China.  The  mineral  here  found  is 
thus  distributed  throughout  the  Chinese  Em- 
pire. Jadeite  of  milk-white  colour  is  most 
highly  prized  and  that  with  bright  green  spots 
is  next  in  favour.  Dr.  Max  Bauer  states  that 
he  saw  a  piece  of  less  than  three  cubic  feet  which 
sold  for  $50,000.  . 

Nephrite  occurs  in  gneiss  and  amphibole 
schists  in  the  Karakash  Valley  in  the  Kuen 
Lun  Mountains,  Turkestan,  and  this  is  now  an 
important  source  of  supply;  these  mines  have 


146       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

been  worked  for  more  than  two  thousand  years. 
Nephrite  is  found  in  eastern  Siberia,  Silesia, 
Germany,  and  in  New  Zealand.  Both  nephrite 
and  jadeite,  carved  into  weapons  and  ornaments, 
have  been  found  in  all  the  Americas;  the  oc- 
currence of  nephrite  in  Alaska  has  been  well 
established,  and  it  is  a  possibility  that  much  of 
the  carved  material  found  far  south  of  Alaska 
originated  there. 

The  Chinese  name  for  jade  is  "  Yu,"  or  "  Yu- 
Shih  "  (Yu  stone),  and  the  Chinese  do  not  seem 
to  distinguish  between  jadeite  and  nephrite.  In 
the  western  world  jade  is  used  but  to  a  limited 
extent  for  jewelry,  excepting  as  an  artistic 
fancy  or  fad,  by  those  who  have  visited  the 
Orient,  or  become  interested  in  it  through  visit- 
ing the  "  Chinatown  "  colonies  of  the  immigrant 
Cantonese  in  American  cities.  A  demand  for 
jade  bracelets  as  souvenirs  of  visits  has  grown 
up,  these  Oriental  ornaments  being  especially 
appreciated  by  the  artistic.  Outside  the  realm 
of  jewelry,  very  high  prices  are  paid  in  Europe 
and  the  United  States  by  connoisseurs  and  col- 
lectors for  beautiful  examples  of  Chinese  art, 
not  for  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  mineral,  but 
because  of  the  wondrous  workmanship  displayed 
by  the  patient  and  skilful  Chinese  artisans. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MOONSTONE 

MOONSTONES  have  a  soft  attractiveness 
that  is  in  contrast  with  the  flashing 
angles  of  the  majority  of  precious  stones.  They 
are  usually  cut  en  cabochon  or  sometimes  turned 
in  the  form  of  balls,  and,  as  the  stone  is  re- 
puted to  be  potent  in  providing  its  possessor 
with  good  fortune,  these  chatoyant  spheres  are 
in  favour  as  lucky  charms.  The  superstitions 
regarding  gems  in  medieval  times  included  one 
that  was  quite  general,  that  a  moonstone  held 
in  the  mouth  would  stimulate  and  refresh  the 
memory.  If  the  moonstone  really  possesses  such 
efficacy,  it  should  be  a  modern  specific  for  wit- 
nesses in  courts  of  justice,  such  as  corporation 
officers  whose  books  have  been  burned,  or 
otherwise  illegally  disposed  of,  and  bankrupts 
who  cannot  remember  what  disposition  was 
made  of  their  assets.  Among  the  beliefs  held 
of  this  stone,  was  one  that  it  would  cure 

epilepsy,  a  faith  still  retained  by  the  French 
147 


148       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

peasants  of  the  Basque  province.  Another  be- 
lief was  that  during  the  waxing  of  the  moon 
it  was  an  efficacious  love  charm;  while  during 
the  moon's  waning  it  wrould  enable  its  wearer 
to  foretell  future  events.  If  there  is  any  basis 
in  fact  for  this  belief,  it  should  be  the  favourite 
gem  of  tipsters  of  the  race  tracks  and  stock 
market. 

A  sort  of  cousin-german  of  the  moonstone  is 
the  sunstone,  which  however  is  a  far  less  im- 
portant luminary  in  the  firmament  of  gems. 
Although  various  minerals  may  be  termed 
"  moonstones,"  the  true  moonstone  is  the  opales- 
cent variety  of  orthoclase-feldspar,  also  bearing 
other  names,  but  usually  identified  by  the  name 
adularia — a  name  which  it  derives  from  Mount 
Adula,  one  of  the  highest  peaks  of  St.  Gothard 
in  the  Alps,  where  it  is  found.  The  Greeks 
called  it  Aphroseline,  signifying  the  splendour 
of  the  moon.  The  Romans  called  it  Lunaris. 
A  transparent,  fibrous,  lustrous  gypsum,  found 
in  England,  selenite,  which  derives  its  name 
from  its  soft  lustre,  suggestive  of  moonshine, 
and  literally  signifying  "  moonstone,"  may  be 
merely  mentioned  here,  but  this  soft  substance 
is  entitled  to  no  place  in  a  list  of  even  the 
semi-precious  stones. 


Moonstone  149 

Moonstone,  according  to  the  mineralogical 
concepts  of  the  United  States  National  Museum, 
is  a  transparent  albite  having  a  chatoyant  re- 
flection resembling  that  of  a  cat's-eye,  or  an 
opaque  pearly  white  albite  having  a  bluish  opa- 
lescence.  Albite  occurs  in  opaque  to  transparent 
masses  and  in  triclinic  crystals  having  a  dual 
cleavage  in  different  directions,  one  of  which  is 
highly  perfect;  hardness,  6;  specific  gravity, 
2.62;  lustre  vitreous,  sometimes  pearly  on  a 
cleavage  surface;  colours,  white,  bluish,  greyish, 
reddish,  greenish,  and  green,  with,  occasionally, 
a  bluish  chatoyancy  or  play  of  colour.  One 
hundred  parts  of  albite  contain:  silica,  68.7; 
alumina,  19.5;  soda,  11.8. 

Albite  is  a  constituent  of  many  crystalline 
rocks,  and  frequently  replaces  feldspar  as  a 
constituent  of  granite,  of  syenite,  and  of  green- 
stone; sometimes  it  is  associated  with  feldspar 
and  dolomite.  Common  occurrences  are  in  veins 
or  cavities  in  granite  or  granitoid  rocks,  which 
are  also  sometimes  repositories  of  fine  crystals 
of  other  gem  minerals,  such  as  beryl,  tourma- 
line, and  smoky  quartz. 

The  moonstone  of  commerce  comes  chiefly 
from  Ceylon,  where  it  is  found  in  pieces  several 
inches  in  diameter  resulting  from  the  decomposi- 


150       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tion  of  a  porphyritic  rock.  Ceylon  moonstone  is 
sometimes  erroneously  termed  "  Ceylon  opal." 
Albite  is  found  at  Mineral  Hill,  near  Media, 
Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania;  in  Allen's  Mica 
Mine,  Amelia  Court  House,  Virginia;  and  other 
localities  in  North  America. 

The  term  sunstone,  or  heliolite,  is  applied  to 
aventurine  kinds  of  oglioclase,  one  of  the  feld- 
spars; these  are  of  a  greyish  white  to  reddish 
gray  colour  with  internal  yellowish  or  reddish 
reflections,  proceeding  from  disseminated  crys- 
tals or  flakes  of  iron  oxide.  Sunstone  is  found 
at  Lyme,  Connecticut,  among  other  American 
localities.  Its  use  in  jewelry  is  now  very 
limited;  it  is  not  costly,  and  artificial  "sun- 
stone  "  or  "  goldstone,"  made  of  glass,  contain- 
ing sparkling  particles  of  metal,  is  often  pre- 
ferred to  the  genuine. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

PEBIDOT 

TJYBRIDS  are  foreign  to  mineralogy,  but 
*  *  there  is  no  precious  stone  so  difficult  to 
specifically  determine  as  chrysolite,  because  of 
the  confusion  regarding  it  in  the  minds  of  those 
engaged  in  the  commerce  of  precious  stones. 

Mineralogists  generalise  the  varieties  of  chrys- 
olite under  the  common  term  "olivine."  To 
'American  jewellers  it  is  perhaps  most  commonly 
known  as  peridot.  With  the  usual  indifference 
to  mineralogical  distinctions  of  the  average  jew- 
eller, it  is  possible  that  more  green  garnets  than 
chrysolite  are  sold  under  the  name  olivine. 
W.  R.  Cattelle,  in  his  book,  Precious  Stones 
writes : 

The  distinction  between  varieties  is  practically 
one  of  colour  only.  For  many  years  lapidaries 
were  in  the  habit  of  calling  the  chrysoberyl  "Ori- 
ental chrysolite,"  and  in  consequence  the  two  stones 
have  been  confused,  though  the  chrysolite  is  much 
the  softer  stone  and  usually  shows  marked  dif- 
ferences in  colour  and  lustre. 
151 


152        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

At  present  it  is  customary  to  call  those  which 
incline  most  to  yellow  "  chrysolite  " ;  the  yellowish 
green,  resembling  a  light  tourmaline  with  a  dash 
of  yellow,  is  known  by  the  name  "  peridot,"  given 
to  it  by  the  French  jewellers ;  and  "  olivine  "  is  the 
name  associated  with  the  brighter  yellowish  em- 
erald-green variety,  although  originally  the  yellow 
to  olive-green  stones  were  known  by  that  name. 

Few  olivines  are  sold  as  such.  The  beautiful 
bright  yellowish-green  stones  known  here  as  olivines, 
are  generally  deinantoids,  Russian  green  garnets,  of 
about  the  same  hardness;  these  are  rarely  found 
large  enough  to  cut  to  gems  of  over  one  half  to 
three  quarters  of  a  carat. 

Olivine  crystallises  in  the  orthorhombic  sys- 
tem; also  occurring  massive;  compact  or  granu- 
lar; usually  in  embedded  grains;  hardness,  6.5 
to  7;  specific  gravity,  3.33  to  3.44;  cleavage,  dis- 
tinct; fracture,  conchoidal;  brittle;  lustre,  vit- 
reous; colour,  typical,  olive  green;  brownish, 
greyish  red  and  black.  It  is  strongly  doubly  re- 
fractive with  marked  dicliroism  in  some  spe- 
cimens ;  peridot  showing  straw-green  and  a  green 
image.  Gem  kinds  and  their  colours  are  chrys- 
olite, yellowish  green ;  peridot  or  "  evening  em- 
erald," olive  pistachio,  or  leek-green  colour,  of  a 
hue  more  subdued  than  the  emerald — green  beryl. 
The  approved  tint  of  peridot  resembles  that  re- 
vealed by  looking  through  a  delicate  translucent 


Peridot  153 

green  leaf.  Hyalosiderite,  "  Job's  tears,"  is  a 
highly  ferruginous  variety;  specific  gravity  at- 
taining 3.57;  colour,  a  rich  olive  green. 

Olivine  is  a  frequently  occurring  constituent 
of  some  eruptive  rocks,  is  also  found  in  granular 
limestone  and  dolomite,  and  in  several  schists 
and  ore  deposits.  Chemically,  olivine — a  sam- 
ple specimen — is  composed  of,  approximately, 
silica,  41;  magnesia,  50;  iron  oxide,  9. 

Olivine  is  a  constituent  of  meteorites.  The 
sources  of  supply  of  this  somewhat  puzzling 
mineral  are  characteristically  doubtful.  Dr. 
George  Frederic  Kunz  is  quoted  as  saying  that 
our  modern  supply  of  chrysolite  is  taken  out 
of  old  jewelry.  The  large  transparent  pieces 
of  chrysolite  used  for  gem  purposes  are  reported 
to  originate  in  the  Levant,  Burma,  Ceylon, 
Egypt,  and  Brazil.  Recently  a  limited  supply 
has  come  into  the  market  from  upper  Egypt 
near  the  Red  Sea — perhaps  an  ancient  source. 
The  chrysolite  of  the  Bible  may  have  been  topaz. 
Small  chrysolites — "  Job's  tears  " — of  good 
quality  are  found  in  the  sand  with  pyrope 
garnet  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

KUNZITE 

ly'UNZITE  is  a  comparatively  new  transpar- 
•*•  *-  ent  gem  discovered  in  America  about  1903 ; 
it  is  a  lilac-coloured  spodumene,  which,  upon  the 
suggestion  of  the  mineralogist  Charles  Basker- 
ville,  was  named  kunzite,  in  honour  of  Dr.  George 
Frederic  Kunz,  because  of  his  services  to  the 
scientific  world  in  the  gem  branch  of  mineralogy. 
The  honour  accorded  Dr.  Kunz  by  mineralogists 
in  accepting  the  name  is  enhanced  because  of 
the  beauty  of  this  new  gem  mineral.  The  first 
crystals  of  this  unaltered  lilac-coloured  spodu- 
mene were  discovered  a  mile  and  a  half  north- 
east from  Pala,  San  Diego  County,  California. 
The  vicinity  of  this  discovery  was  already  of 
great  interest  to  students  of  gem  minerals  be- 
cause but  fifty  feet  away  from  the  spot  is  a 
famous  deposit  of  tourmaline  from  which  spe- 
cimen crystals  remarkable  for  the  unusually 
large  size  and  great  beauty  have  been  taken, 

while  half  a  mile  away  is  a  celebrated  rubellite 
154 


Kunzite  155 

and  lepidolite  locality.  The  spodumene  crys- 
tals found  near  Pala  are  of  extraordinary  size, 
one  weighing  thirty-one  ounces,  troy ;  the  dimen- 
sions of  this  crystal  were  18  x  8  x  3  centimetres. 

Kunzite  has  a  considerable  range  of  tints 
which  include  shades  characterised  as:  deep 
rosy  lilac,  rich  deep  pink  purple,  and  delicate 
pink  amethystine;  this  and  the  lighter  lilac 
shades  are  the  typical  tints.  The  finest  spe- 
cimens we  have  seen  have  a  bright  lustre  and 
perfect  transparency.  These  lilac-spodumene 
crystals  occurred  in  a  ledge  which  was  traced 
for  twelve  hundred  feet  along  the  top  of  a 
ridge.  The  rock  is  a  coarse  decomposed  granite, 
which  might  be  termed  pegmatite,  with  the  feld- 
spar much  kaolinised  and  reduced  to  a  "  red 
dirt,"  and  showing  many  large  quartz  crystals, 
some  of  them  weighing  150  pounds,  but  not 
clear. 

Other  coloured  crystals  of  spodumene  which 
approach  in  colour  and  quality  the  standard 
specimens  obtained  near  Pala  have  been  found 
at  Meridian,  California,  but  these  are  smaller 
than  those  found  at  Pala;  the  Meridian  spe- 
cimens more  nearly  resemble  the  occasional  spe- 
cimens of  unaltered  spodumene  found  near 
Branchville,  Connecticut.  The  Meridian  crys- 


156       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tals  were  at  first  supposed  to  be  tourmaline,  but 
were  identified  by  Dr.  Kunz;  many  of  these 
crystals  were  ruined  by  lapidaries  who  unsuc- 
cessfully tried  to  cut  them,  as  the  very  highly 
facile  cleavage  of  spodumene  caused  the  mineral 
to  flake. 

Kunzite  is  entirely  distinct  from  the  green 
variety  of  spodumene  (hiddenite),  the  beautiful 
gem  mineral  found  at  Stony  Point,  Alexandra 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  from  the  trans- 
parent yellow  variety  reported  by  a  mineral- 
ogist named  Pisani  to  have  been  found  in  Brazil, 
and,  since  its  discovery,  produced  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  come  into  use  as  gems. 

Spodumene — it  is  also  sometimes  called  tri- 
phane — in  its  general  characteristics  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  pyroxene  group,  and  is  the  only  gem 
mineral,  besides  lepidolite  and  tourmaline,  which 
contains  a  considerable  proportion  of  lithium. 
The  chemical  composition  of  spodumene  is: 
silica,  64.5;  alumina,  27.4;  and  lithia,  8.4. 
Spodumene  is  fusible  before  the  blowpipe;  its 
hardness  is  G1/^  to  7;  specific  gravity,  3.1-3.2; 
lustre,  vitreous.  Spodumene  is  commonly  white 
or  grey,  and  because  of  that  it  was  named,  the 
word  spodumene  being  derived  from  the  Greek 
spodios,  meaning  ash-coloured.  Most  of  the 


Kunzite  157 

spoduinene  found  is  opaque,  only  the  gem 
quality  being  translucent  to  transparent.  Spo- 
dumene  crystallises  in  the  monoclinic  system, 
and  crystals  have  been  found  four  feet  long. 

Until  the  discovery  of  kunzite  the  use  of 
spoduinene  as  a  gem  was  limited  to  the  emerald- 
green  hiddenite,  named  after  its  discoverer,  W. 
E.  Hidden.  This  variety  occurs  in  thin  crys- 
tals with  tints  ranging  from  colourless  to 
yellow  and  to  an  emerald  green.  Five  carats 
is  about  the  maximum  weight  of  cut  hiddenite 
gems;  they  are  cut  into  step  or  table  stones 
to  make  the  most  of  their  dichroism,  and  to 
avoid  the  possibility  of  splitting  because  of  their 
unusually  high  degree  of  prismatic  cleavage. 

The  Brazilian  spodumene,  the  yellow,  was 
originally  identified  as  chrysoberyl,  and  it  is 
used  in  jewelry  as  the  last  named  metal  is; 
scientific  tests  will  easily  distinguish  these  two 
minerals  the  one  from  the  other.  Some  spodu- 
mene of  a  beautiful  blue  colour  has  also  been 
found  in  Brazil,  near  Diamantina. 

Kunzite,  almost  7  in  hardness,  is  transparent 
and  pleochroic.  Viewed  transversely  some 
representative  crystals  were  faintly  pink ;  longi- 
tudinally they  presented  a  rich  pale  lavender 
colour,  approaching  amethystine.  A  character- 


1 58       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

istic  of  kunzite  crystals  is  a  peculiar  etching, 
apparently  effected  with  solvents.  A  number 
of  scientific  tests  have  revealed  in  kunzite  a 
remarkable  phosphorescence,  not  possessed  by 
other  varieties  of  spodumene  similarly  tested, 
and  its  illuminant  powers,  excited  by  its  bom- 
bardment with  Rontgen  rays,  and  also  by  the 
proximity  of  a  few  milligrammes  of  radium 
bromide,  mark  this  mineral  as  unique  and  of 
unusual  interest  to  scientists,  in  addition  to  its 
value  as  a  recruit  to  the  first  rank  of  semi- 
precious stones. 

In  a  description  of  experiments  made  upon 
kunzite  Sir  William  Crookes  writes: 

But  the  most  interesting  thing  to  me  is  the 
effect  of  radium  on  it.  A  few  milligrammes  of 
radium  bromide  brought  near  the  piece  of  kunzite 
makes  it  glow  with  a  fine  yellowish  light,  which 
does  not  cease  immediately  on  removal  of  the  ra- 
dium, but  persists  for  several  seconds. 

I  have  found  some  diamonds  phosphoresce 
brightly  under  the  influence  of  radium,  and  have 
been  searching  for  a  mineral  which  is  equally  sen- 
sitive. I  think  this  lilac  variety  of  spodumene  runs 
the  diamond  very  close,  if  it  does  not  surpass  it 
sometimes. 

The  luminosity  of  kunzite,  in  response  to  the 
artificial  conditions  already  known  to  arouse  it, 


Kunzite  159 

is    thus    summed    up,    in    a    sentence,    by    Dr. 
Kunz: 

In  a  word,  kunzite  responds  to  radium,  acti- 
nium, Rontgen  and  ultra-violet  rays;  it  is  thermo- 
luininescent  and  pyro-electric.  Becomes  radescent 
when  mixed  in  powdered  form  with  radium;  be- 
comes incandescent  when  this  mixture  is  slightly 
heated,  and  crystals  or  gems  become  beautifully 
phosphorescent  for  quite  a  time  by  passing  a 
faradic  current  through  it,  or  if  held  between  the 
poles  of  a  Holtz  machine. 

The  sole  drawback  at  present  to  the  increas- 
ing appreciation  of  kunzite  is  that  the  supply, 
according  to  reports  in  the  jewelry  trade  in 
New  York  City,  is  unequal  to  the  increasing 
demand.  In  1907,  according  to  reports  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  about  126 
pounds  of  gem  spodumene,  selected  material, 
was  obtained  from  the  California  gem  region, 
but  not  all  of  this  was  the  variety  kunzite. 
Albert  Dabren,  a  mining  engineer,  of  Madagas- 
car, has  reported  that  gem  kunzite  has  been 
found  thece. 


CHAPTER  XX 

TOURMALINES 

A  STONE  of  many  colours  is  tourmaline; 
**  it  was  introduced  into  Europe  from  India 
in  1703  and  its  name  is  adapted  from  turmali, 
its  Cingalese  name.  Tourmaline  is  a  widely  dis- 
tributed mineral,  and  its  transparent  coloured 
varieties,  used  as  gein  stones,  have  attained  a 
considerable  popularity.  The  vogue  of  the  tour- 
maline has  increased  since  it  was  discovered 
in  1820  on  Mount  Mica  near  Paris,  Maine.  The 
tourmaline  has  also  been  found  in  Massa- 
chusetts, California,  and  New  York  State.  Its 
principal  sources  are  Ceylon,  Burma,  Brazil, 
and  the  Ural  Mountains,  Siberia;  it  is  also  found 
in  Moravia,  Sweden,  and  the  Isle  of  Elba. 
Tourmaline  occurs  in  granite,  particularly  the 
albitic  varieties,  schists,  and  dolomite.  Crystal- 
lisation of  the  tourmaline  is  rhombohedral,  herni- 
morphic,  and  the  prisms  have  three,  six,  nine,  or 
twelve  sides.  In  hardness  it  is  equal  to  quartz 
and  approaches  topaz,  being  7  to  7.5.  Its  lustre 

160. 


GREEN  AND  PINK  TOURMALINE, 
MESA  GRANDE,  CALA. ;  OWNED 
BY  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY. 
Courtesy  of  A.  H.  Petereit 


PINK  TOURMALINE   IN   ALBITE   WITH 
LEPIDOLITE,  MESA  GRANDE,   CALA. 


Theo.  Henninger 


Tourmalines  161 

is  vitreous,  it  ranges  from  transparent  to  opaque, 
and  is  doubly  refractive  to  a  high  degree.  Its 
cleavage  is  perfect  on  the  basal  plane,  break- 
ing with  uneven  fractures.  Its  specific  gravity 
is  from  2.94  to  3.15. 

Tourmaline  is  one  of  the  most  dichroic  stones, 
and  individual  specimens  vary  more  from  others 
in  composition  and  proportion  than  is  the  case 
in  almost  any  other  mineral.  In  colour,  black 
shading  to  light  brown  is  the  commonest;  but 
blue,  green,  red,  and  pink  are  usually  desired. 
Some  of  the  shades  are  very  rich;  and  richness, 
rather  than  brilliancy,  is  the  quality  which 
appeals  to  the  artistic  eye  of  the  connoisseur. 
Curious  specimens  have  shown  internal  shades 
of  red  and  external  of  green,  while  others  differ 
in  colour  toward  the  extremities.  Dana  dis- 
tinguishes varieties  as  follows:  rubellite, 
shades  of  red,  frequently  transparent  (two 
of  the  finest  known  specimens  of  this  variety 
are  in  the  British  national  collection  in  the 
Natural  History  Museum  at  South  Kensington, 
England) ;  indicolite,  indigo  blue — Berlin  blue, 
the  Brazilian  sapphire  of  jewellers;  Brazilian 
emerald;  chrysolite  (or  peridot),  green  and 
transparent;  peridot  of  Ceylon,  honey-yellow; 
achroite,  colourless;  aphrizite,  black;  and 


162       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

columnar  and  black,  without  cleavage  or  trace 
of  fibrous  texture. 

Tourmaline  heated,  like  some  other  minerals 
in  which  one  termination  differs  in  form  from 
the  other,  develops  electricity,  with  the  effect  of 
making  of  the  ends  positive  and  negative  poles. 
Sections  of  tourmaline  crystals  cut  parallel  to 
the  axis  have  the  property  of  polarising  light. 
Tourmaline  can  be  fused  under  the  blowpipe  to 
f  spongy  enamel ;  it  melts  with  borax  to  trans- 
parent glass.  Tourmaline  is  cut  step  and  bril- 
liant. 

Twin-coloured  tourmaline  is  strongly  doubly 
refractive;  green  shows  yellow  and  greenish 
blue;  yellowish  green,  yellow  and  green;  red- 
dish brown,  light  and  dark  brown;  red,  pink 
and  dark  red;  blue,  light  and  dark  blue.  The 
green  tends  toward  blue  while  the  blue  has  a 
greenish  tendency.  Some  brown  tourmalines 
have  mixed  colours. 

In  considering  shades  when  selecting  tourma- 
lines, a  medium  bright  green  is  better  than  the 
lighter  or  that  which  appears  blackish.  The 
pink  should  be  deep  and  clean,  ruby-like.  A 
rich  amber  brown  is  most  desirable  of  the  brown 
shades.  Bed  tourmaline  is  occasionally  so  like 
the  ruby  that  it  might  deceive  any  but  the  ex- 


Tourmaliaes  163 

pert  and  his  recourse  to  a  scientific  test;  the 
hardness  of  the  ruby  would  of  course  decide  it. 
In  its  two-colour  character,  the  tourmaline  re- 
sembles the  ruby  but  surpasses  it ;  the  colour  of 
the  tourmaline  is  not  so  deep  nor  is  it  so  lus- 
trous as  the  ruby's,  but  it  is  frequently  more 
transparent.  While  some  red  tourmaline  re- 
sembles spinel,  the  latter  is  singly  refractive 
and  has  a  yellow  tint.  Red  topaz  is  harder  and 
of  greater  specific  gravity  than  red  tourmaline. 
The  two  colours  of  the  topaz  are  red  and  yel- 
low while  the  tourmaline's  are  rose  and  dark 
red.  Sapphire  is  harder  than  tourmaline  and 
clear  blue,  while  tourmaline  is  greenish  blue. 
Aquamarine  is  a  water  blue  and  is  harder  than 
tourmaline,  but  is  of  a  lower  specific  gravity. 
The  several  other  colour  varieties  of  tourmaline 
bear  sometimes  a  strong  resemblance  to  other 
stones,  but  are  easily  distinguished  by  the  ex- 
pert, usually  without  further  test  than  the  em- 
ployment of  the  dichroiscope.  Tourmaline  has 
sometimes  been  confounded  with  some  of  the 
fine  green  diopsides  found  in  New  York  State. 

Digging  for  tourmalines,  at  least  in  one 
locality,  offers  the  fascination  that,  in  some 
form,  seems  always  present  in  the  mineral  in- 
dustries. One  of  the  earlier  sources  of  supply 


164       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

of  tourmalines  was  Burma,  and  an  interesting 
description  of  some  of  the  phases  of  the  quest 
for  tourmalines  was  written  by  Mr.  C.  S. 
George,  deputy  commissioner  for  the  Ruby  Mine 
District,  Burma,  for  the  London  Tribune. 
Tourmaline,  as  found  there,  is  in  separate  crys- 
tals in  the  interstices  of  granite  rock,  and  men 
with  no  capital  can  mine  here  and  do,  in  a  de- 
sultory manner,  on  the  chance  of  finding  more 
or  less  valuable  bits  by  digging  down  a  distance 
of  ten  feet  or  less.  This  was  the  method  of 
mining  at  the  original  ruby  diggings  at  Kathe. 
The  more  modern  method  is  that  of  sinking  a 
vertical  shaft  four  or  five  feet  square.  Custom 
allows  the  proprietor  of  the  shaft  to  extend  his 
workings  underground  anywhere  to  a  radius  of 
five  fathoms  from  the  centre  of  the  shaft. 

A  writer — Mr.  C.  S.  George  referred  to  above 
— in  the  Jeweller's  Circular  Weekly  states : 

The  vein  is  formed  by  a  vein  of  white  hard  gran- 
ite rock,  in  the  interstices  of  which  the  tourmaline 
is  found,  at  times  adhering  loosely  to  the  rock,  at 
others  lying  separate  in  the  loose  yellowish  earth 
that  is  found  with  granite.  When  a  vein  is  once 
found  it  is  followed  up  as  far  as  possible,  subject 
to  the  five  fathom  limit.  What,  however,  makes  the 
mining  so  exciting  and  at  the  same  time  keeps  the 
industry  fluctuating  is  that  the  tourmaline  crystals 


Tourmalines  165 

are  found  only  intermittently  in  the  vein.  One  may 
get  several  in  the  length  of  one  yard,  and  then  they 
will  unaccountably  cease.  Directly  one  man  strikes 
a  vein  yielding  crystals  every  one  who  can  com- 
mences digging  along  the  line  of  the  vein,  but  it 
is  all  a  toss-up  as  to  whether,  when  the  vein  is 
reached,  there  will  be  tourmaline  therein.  Adjoin- 
ing shafts  give  absolutely  different  results,  and  it 
is  calculated  that  at  least  two  thirds  of  the  shafts 
sunk  yield  nothing  at  all,  while  only  an  occasional 
one  is  at  all  rich. 

Of  the  sixty-two  shafts  at  the  time  of  Mr.  George's 
visit  only  three  were  yielding,  and  of  these  only 
one  had  traces  of  the  best  quality  stone.  The  veins 
are  fairly  deep  down,  none  having  ever  been  reached 
at  a  lesser  depth  than  nine  fathoms,  while  an 
ordinary  depth  is  forty  or  fifty  cubits.  When  the 
"vein"  takes  a  downward  direction  it  is  followed 
as  far  as  possible,  but  that  is  rarely  over  about 
sixty  cubits,  for  at  that  depth  the  foulness  of  the 
air  puts  the  lamps  out. 

All  the  material  dug  out  from  the  inside  shaft 
is  pulled  up  to  the  surface  in  small  buckets,  all 
worked  by  enormously  long  pivoted  bamboos 
weighted  with  a  counterpoise,  and  the  tourmaline 
is  sorted  out  of  hand,  the  granitic  fragments  being 
piled  in  a  wall  around  the  mouth  of  the  shaft. 

The  folk-lore  of  tourmaline  tells  us  that  both 
the  introduction  of  this  beautiful  and  multi- 
phase mineral  to  the  knowledge  and  apprecia- 
tion of  mankind,  and  its  discovery  in  America, 
were  due  to  children.  Soon  after  the  year  1700, 


1 66       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

some  children  in  Holland  were  playing  in  a 
court-yard  on  a  summer  day  with  a  few  bright- 
coloured  stones  indifferently  given  to  them  by 
some  lapidaries,  who  evidently  had  not  classi- 
fied, or  invested  them  with  any  particular  value 
or  significance.  The  children's  keenness  of  ob- 
servation revealed  that  when  their  bright  play- 
things became  heated  by  the  sun's  rays,  they 
attracted  and  held  ashes  and  straws.  The 
children  appealed  to  their  parents  for  enlighten- 
ment as  to  the  cause  of  this  mysterious  prop- 
erty; but  they  were  unable  to  explain  or  to 
identify  the  stones,  giving  them,  however,  the 
name  of  aschentreckers  or  ash-drawers,  which 
for  a  long  time  clung  to  these  tourmalines. 

The  story  of  the  tourmaline  in  the  western 
hemisphere  is  an  object-lesson  for  those  adults 
who  have  no  indulgence  for  the  scientific  enter- 
prise of  the  young,  or  faith  in  the  possibility 
of  valuable  results  from  their  immature  in- 
vestigation. The  principal  source  of  the  best 
American  tourmalines  is  a  mine  on  Mount  Mica 
at  Paris,  Maine.  Gem  tourmalines  were  dis- 
covered on  Mount  Mica  on  an  autumn  day  in 
1820  by  two  boys,  Elijah  L.  Hamlin  and  Ezekiel 
Holmes,  amateur  mineralogists.  When  nearing 
home  from  a  fatiguing  local  prospecting  expedi- 


Tourmalines  167 

tion,  they  discovered  some  gleaming  green  sub- 
stance at  the  root  of  a  tree,  and  investigation 
rewarded  them  with  a  fine  green  tourmaline. 
A  snowstorm  prevented  a  further  search,  but 
the  following  spring  they  returned  to  their 
"  claim  "  and  secured  a  number  of  fine  crystals. 
Tourmalines  from  Mount  Mica  are  found  in 
pockets  in  pegmatitic  granite,  overlaid  by  mica 
schist,  which  has  since  to  some  extent  been 
stripped  off  to  facilitate  this  interesting  min- 
eral industry.  Black  tourmaline,  muscovite,  and 
lepidolite  are  found  in  this  Pine  Tree  State 
treasure  house.  More  than  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars' worth  of  tourmalines  have  been  extracted 
from  the  mine  resulting  from  this  boyish  dis- 
covery. While  this  sum  of  money  is  not  great 
in  comparison  with  the  financial  results  of  many 
mineral  industries,  the  output  has  included  very 
many  specimens  of  rare  beauty  that  have  en- 
riched the  collections  of  royalty,  wealthy  private 
connoisseurs  of  precious  stones,  and  of  great 
public  museums  and  educational  institutions. 

The  strong  dichroism  of  the  tourmaline  and 
its  variety  of  colour  composition  and  other  re- 
markable properties  make  it  one  of  the  most 
interesting  minerals  in  Nature's  storehouse,  and 
led  Ruskin  to  write  in  his  Ethics  of  the  Dust, 


168        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

in   a  fanciful   effort   to   describe   its   harlequin 
composition : 

A  little  of  everything;  there's  always  flint  and 
clay  and  magnesia  in  it;  and  the  black  is  iron  ac- 
cording to  its  fancy ;  and  there 's  boracic  acid,  if 
you  know  what  that  is,  and  if  you  don't,  I  cannot 
tell  you  to-day,  and  it  doesn't  signify;  and  there's 
potash  and  soda;  and  on  the  whole,  the  chemistry 
of  it  is  more  like  a  mediaeval  doctor's  prescription 
than  the  making  of  a  respectable  mineral. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

AMBER 

A  LTHOUGH  the  ornamental  uses  of  amber 
*»  are  to  a  great  extent  outside  the  realm 
of  personal  adornment,  its  conversion  into  beads, 
for  necklaces  especially,  is  of  such  ancient  ori- 
gin, and  these  ornaments  have  always  been  so 
favoured,  that  this  fossil  vegetable  resin  is,  like 
the  pearl  and  coral,  included  in  the  realm  of 
gems  which  are,  with  these  exceptions,  and  the 
diamond,  which  is  carbon,  purely  mineral.  Like 
the  pearl  and  coral,  amber  is  identified  in  the 
popular  conception  with  the  sea,  from  whence 
a  small  proportion  of  the  amber  acquired  by 
man  has  been  derived. 

To  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Max  Bauer :  "  This 
material,  so  much  used  for  personal  ornaments, 
is  not  strictly  speaking  a  mineral  at  all,  being 
of  vegetable  origin,  and  consisting  of  the  more 
or  less  considerably  altered  resin  of  extinct 
trees.  It  resembles  minerals  in  its  occurrence 

in  the  beds  of  the  earth's  crust,  and  for  that 
169 


1 70       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

reason  may  be  considered,  like  other  varieties 
of  fossil  resin,  of  which  it  is  the  most  import- 
ant, as  an  appendix  to  minerals." 

Archaeological  discoveries  reveal  that  amber 
was  known  to  and  favoured  by  prehistoric  peo- 
ples, such  as  the  Egyptians  and  cave-dwellers 
of  Switzerland.  Amber  is  believed  to  have  been 
taken  from  the  Baltic  by  the  seafaring  Phoeni- 
cians, and  the  old  Greeks  called  it  elektron, 
from  whence  comes  our  modern  word  electricity. 

True  amber — Succinum  electrum  (Dana)  — 
the  succinite  of  mineralogists,  is  the  resin  of  a 
coniferous  tree  which  was  of  the  vegetable  life 
of  the  Miocene  age  of  the  Tertiary  period  in 
geology.  The  late  Professor  Goeppert,  of  Bres- 
lau  christened  the  principal  amber-yielding  tree 
the  Pinites  succinifer.  The  vegetable  origin  of 
amber  has  not  been  definitely  established  in 
science,  but  one  of  the  evidences  that  it  was  a 
flowing  vegetable  resin,  that  is  accepted  as  indis- 
putable, is  the  oft-occurring  presence  in  amber 
of  insects,  or  parts  of  them,  which  must  have 
been  caught  and  imprisoned  when  the  fresh 
resin  was  fluent.  Wherever  amber  is  found  in 
the  earth,  it  is  in  association  with  brown-coal 
or  lignite. 

Amber,  or  succinite,   then,   is  a  fossil  resin 


Amber  171 

occurring  in  irregular  masses  with  no  cleavage 
and  having  a  conchoidal  fracture.  Colour  yel- 
low, some  specimens  reddish,  brownish,  whitish, 
or  cloudy  and  occasionally  fluorescent,  with  a 
blue  or  green  tinge;  hardness,  2  to  2.5;  specific 
gravity,  1.05  to  1.09;  brittle;  lustre,  resinous  to 
waxy;  transparent  to  opaque;  negatively  elec- 
trified by  friction.  Amber  is  inflammable  with 
a  rich  yellow  flame  and  it  emits  an  aromatic 
odour;  heated  to  150  degrees  C.  it  softens,  and 
melts  at  about  250  degrees  C.  giving  off  dense 
white  pungent  fumes.  In  alcohol  it  is  soluble. 
The  chemical  constituents  of  amber,  in  one  hun- 
dred parts  are:  carbon  78.96,  hydrogen  10.51, 
oxygen  10.52. 

Amber  is  found  on  the  Baltic,  Adriatic,  and 
Sicilian  coasts;  in  France,  China,  India,  and  in 
Nortli  America. 

Always  within  man's  memory  or  knowledge, 
nodules  of  amber  have  been  cast  up  on  the 
shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  especially  along  the 
Prussian  coast,  and  their  collection  and  sale 
has  afforded  a  livelihood  for  the  local  inhabi- 
tants. This  is  called  "sea  stone,"  or  "sea 
amber,"  and  it  is  usually  uniform  and,  being 
uncontaminated  by  associated  substances,  is 
superior  in  quality  to  that  which  is  mined. 


172       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

This  flotsam  amber  is  often  entangled  in  sea- 
weed and  this — called  "  scoop  stone  " — is  col- 
lected in  nets.  In  marshy  spots,  mounted  men, 
called  "amber  riders,"  follow  the  ebbing  tide 
and  profitably  search  for  the  fossil  resin  thus 
exposed.  The  weight  of  amber  being  about  the 
same  as  sea-water,  agitation  of  the  water  con- 
taining it  is  sufficiently  effective  for  its  flota- 
tion. About  1860,  it  being  evident  to  geologists 
that  the  sea-amber  came  from  the  strata  under- 
neath, it  was  sought  on  the  adjacent  terra  firma 
by  modern  mining  methods,  and  the  operations 
have  resulted  in  an  established  successful  in- 
dustry. 

The  most  highly  prized  amber  comes  from 
Sicily.  Professor  Oliver  Cummings  Farrington, 
in  his  book  Gems  and  Gem  Minerals,  states  that 
eight  hundred  dollars  have  been  paid  for  pieces 
of  Sicilian  amber  no  larger  than  walnuts.  The 
Sicilian  amber  reveals  a  varied  colour  display 
including  blood-red  and  chrysolite-green,  which 
are  often  fluorescent,  glowing  internally  with 
a  light  of  different  colour  from  the  exterior. 
The  advantages  of  amber,  despite  its  softness, 
include  its  remarkable  durability. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

BLOODSTONE 

BLOODSTONE,  or  heliotrope,  representing 
the  month  of  March  in  the  list  of  natal 
stones,  symbolic  of  courage  and  wisdom,  and 
the  centre  of  much  legendary  interest,  is  one 
of  the  most  attractive  of  the  green  varieties  of 
that  almost  omnipresent  mineral,  quartz.  The 
scientific  terminology  of  quartz  is  involved  and 
complicated  by  differing  authorities  in  min- 
eralogy, but  bloodstone  is  a  massive  variety 
generally  classed  as  plasma,  a  name,  however, 
that  is  applied  by  some  to  green  chalcedony  and 
by  others  to  green  jasper;  this  curious  mineral 
contains  spots  of  red  jasper  that  resemble  drops 
of  blood,  and  to  which  it  owes  its  name.  One 
of  the  most  striking  traditions  which  concern 
bloodstone  is  that  it  originated  at  the  crucifix- 
ion of  Christ,  from  drops  of  blood  drawn  by 
the  spear  thrust  by  a  Koman  soldier  into  his 
side,  which  fell  on  a  piece  of  dark  green  jasper. 
The  body  of  bloodstone  is  translucent  to  opaque 


174       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

and  of  a  dark-green  colour.  Quartz,  as  is  men- 
tioned elsewhere  in  connection  with  its  gem- 
stone  varieties,  crystallises  in  the  hexagonal  sys- 
tem; hardness,  7;  specific  gravity,  2.5  to  2.8 
— the  purest  kinds  2.65.  Pure  quartz  is  silica; 
the  varied  colours  and  characters  of  the  many 
gem-stone  varieties  are  due  wholly  or  partly  to 
contents  of  iron,  alumina,  manganese,  nickel, 
and  other  chromatic  constituents.  The  red 
spots  in  bloodstone  are  simply  oxide  of  iron. 
The  specific  name,  heliotrope,  is  favoured  by 
Dana,  among  other  mineralogists.  "  Helio- 
trope "  is  a  word  derived  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  "  sun- turning,"  and  refers  to  the  belief 
that  the  stone  when  immersed  in  water  would 
change  the  image  of  the  sun  to  blood-red.  The 
wrater  was  also  reputed  to  boil  and  upturn  the 
experimental  utensils  containing  this  submerged 
weird  mineral. 

This  opaque,  but  slightly  lustrous,  jaspery 
quartz,  although  a  beautiful  and  interesting 
mineral,  is  not  extensively  used  now  in  jewelry, 
and  a  requisition  for  it  is  usually  an  idiosyn- 
crasy, or  because  it  is  a  natal  stone  for  those 
who  were  born  in  the  month  of  March.  Hardy, 
tough,  yet  carved  with  facility,  it  is  well  adapted 
to  signet  rings  and  is  usually  seen  bearing 


Bloodstone  175 

crests  or  monograms.  The  ancient  Egyptians 
and  Babylonians  used  the  bloodstone  extensively 
for  seals.  Outside  the  realm  of  jewelry  it 
supplies  a  fine  material  for  artistic  cups, 
small  vases,  and  statuettes.  In  the  French 
Royal  Collection  in  Paris  is  a  bust  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  bloodstone,  so  executed  that  the  red 
spots  of  the  stone  most  realistically  resemble 
drops  of  blood.  Another  fine  specimen  of  carv- 
ing is  a  head  of  Christ  in  the  Field  Columbian 
Museum,  Chicago. 

The  supply  of  bloodstone  is  derived  almost 
entirely  from  India,  especially  from  the  Kathia- 
war  Peninsula.  Other  sources  are  in  Australia 
and  Brazil.  Bloodstone  does  occur,  but  unim- 
portantly, in  Europe;  fine  specimens  are  found 
at  several  places  in  Scotland,  especially  in  the 
basalt  of  the  Isle  of  Rum. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

MOSS  AGATE 

IV/lOSS  AGATE  is  a  variety  of  chalcedonic 
*  *•  quartz  that  has  some  vogue  in  the  jew- 
elry of  to-day,  and  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing features  of  gem  mineralogy.  Enclosed  in 
this  stone  are  what  seem  to  be  long  hairs  and 
fibres,  usually  irregularly  interwoven,  and  hav- 
ing the  effect  of  various  species  of  moss.  These 
branching  forms,  so  imitative  of  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  plants,  are  manganese  or  iron  oxide, 
and  not  imprisoned  vegetation,  or  prehistoric  in- 
sects which  really  were  imprisoned  in  amber, 
and  have  been  preserved  through  ages  to  furnish 
food  for  speculation  for  latter-day  naturalists. 

The  name  agate  is  derived  from  the  river 
Achates,  in  Sicily,  now  called  the  Drillo,  in  the 
Val  de  Noto.  Theophrastus  states  that  this  is 
where  ancient  agates  were  found. 

Moss  agates  and  Mocha  stones  are  varieties  of 
crypto-crystalline  (obscurely  crystalline)  quartz 

of  fibrous  structure,  and  are  slightly  softer  and 
176 


CARNELIAN  AGATE  FROM  URUGUAY 
Specimen  in  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum 


MOSS  AGATE 


Moss  Agate  177 

lighter  than  crystallised  quartz.  The  hardness 
of  crypto-crystalline  quartz  is  6.5;  specific  grav- 
ity, 2.6;  it  is  more  difficult  to  break  than  crys- 
talline quartz,  being  very  tough,  which  makes 
these  varieties — their  principal  differences  being 
of  colour  and  colour-pattern — eminently  fit  for 
carving. 

The  finest  moss  agates  known  to-day  come 
from  India,  and  those  specimens  called  "  mocha 
stone  "  originally  came,  it  is  believed,  from  the 
vicinity  of  Mocha,  an  Arabian  seaport  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Eed  Sea  most  famous  for  its 
aromatic  coffee.  The  Oriental  moss  agates  are 
common  in  the  volcanic  rocks  (trap  rock)  of 
western  India,  occurring  with  Mocha  stone. 
Blocks  weighing  as  high  as  thirty  pounds  have 
been  obtained.  It  occurs  also  as  pebbles  in 
many  Indian  rivers.  From  China  has  come, 
during  recent  years,  a  supply  of  natural  green 
and  artificial  yellow  and  red  moss  agates,  which 
have,  to  a  considerable  extent,  replaced  others 
on  the  market.  Fine  moss  agates  are  abundant 
in  various  parts  of  the  Rocky  Mountains;  the 
best  are  found  in  the  form  of  rolled  pebbles  in 
the  beds  of  streams.  As  souvenirs,  and  for 
sentimental  reasons  of  local  interest,  these 
beautiful  gem  stones  of  our  Rocky  Mountain 


1 78       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

States  are  cut  and  mounted;  in  the  tourist  the 
Western  jeweller  and  curio-dealer  finds  for  these 
American  moss  agates  a  good  customer. 

Mocha  stone  ("tree  stone"  or  dendritic 
agate)  is  a  white  or  grey  chalcedony  showing 
brown,  red,  or  black  dendritic  markings  re- 
sembling trees  and  plants.  These  have  been 
formed  by  the  percolation  of  a  solution  contain- 
ing iron  or  manganese  through  the  fine  fissures 
of  the  stone,  and  the  subsequent  deposition  of 
the  colouring  matter  originally  held  in  solution. 
The  brown  and  red  markings  are  caused  by 
oxide  of  iron,  and  the  black  by  oxide  of 
manganese. 

Agate  in  general  is  but  little  used  in  modern 
jewelry,  but  for  art  objects  and  interior  archi- 
tectural decoration  it  is  always  in  demand. 
For  centuries,  the  centre  of  the  industry  of 
cutting  and  polishing  agate  has  been  Oberstein, 
Germany;  an  authentic  record  shows  that  this 
industry  has  existed  there  since  1497;  the  in- 
dustry has  for  many  years  been  shared  by  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Idar.  The  subject  of 
agate,  its  origin,  mining,  treatment,  and  use  in 
the  arts,  might  worthily  supply  material  for  an 
extensive  book. 


AGATE  WITH  CONCENTRIC  RINGS 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

ONYX  AND  SARDONYX 


and  sardonyx  are  varieties  of  agate 
with  layers  in  even  planes  of  uniform 
thickness,  thus  adapting  them  to  the  purposes 
of  cameo  engravers.  The  cameo  has  a  base  of 
one  colour  and  the  figure  of  another.  The  art 
of  cameo  engraving  attained  a  point  nearest 
perfection  with  the  ancient  Romans,  evidence 
being  supplied  by  the  numerous  relics,  that  are 
the  admiration  of  modern  artists.  The  word 
onyx  means  a  finger-nail,  and  was  suggested, 
it  is  supposed,  by  a  fancied  resemblance  to  the 
lustre  and  appearance  of  a  finger-nail.  Of  course 
—  if  the  Greek  myth  be  true  —  this  most  beauti- 
ful instance  of  stratification  in  all  mineral 
nature  owes  its  origin  to  the  freak  of  playful 
Cupid,  and  is  the  only  visible  and  palpable  evi- 
dence we  have  of  the  mundane  visits  of  the 
Goddess  of  Beauty. 

Sardonyx  is  a  variety  of  onyx  in  which  one 
layer  has  the  brown  colour  of  sard.      Chalce- 
179 


180       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

clonyx  and  carnelionyx  derive  their  names  from 
the  colours  of  the  intervening  layers.  "  Mexican 
onyx,"  it  should  be  noted,  is  calcite,  not  quartz, 
and  is  very  much  softer  than  the  real  onyx. 
Mexican  onyx  has  a  similar  banded  structure 
to  real  onyx,  and  is  well  adapted  to  architectural 
or  interior  decoration,  for  which  it  is  extensively 
used,  but  it  is  outside  the  realm  of  precious 
stones. 

Because  of  their  porous  nature,  varieties  of 
agate  can  be  easily  artificially  coloured,  and 
this  art  has  been  developed  to  perfection  in  Ger- 
many, where  some  of  the  processes,  as  "  trade 
secrets,"  are  important  phases  of  the  general 
agate-preparing  industry  at  Oberstein  and  Idar. 
The  art  of  colouring  agate,  which  naturally  is 
mostly  of  a  dingy  grey  colour,  was  derived  from 
old  Rome.  Brazilian  agate,  the  material  exten- 
sively worked  now  in  Germany,  is  softer  than 
the  German  varieties  that  formerly  constituted 
the  principal  supply,  and  is  particularly  sus- 
ceptible to  successful  colouring  by  the  scientific 
German  processes. 

The  onyxes  best  suited  for  cameo  engraving, 
besides  onyx  proper,  are  chalcedony-onyx, 
carnelian-onyx,  and  sardonyx.  These  are  cut 


Onyx  and  Sardonyx  181 

so  as  to  display  a  white  or  light  figure  against 
a  darker  coloured  background.  Cameos  are 
mostly  engraved  in  Paris  and  Italy,  but  the 
plates  of  onyx  used  by  these  cameo  engravers  are 
prepared  at  Oberstein  and  Idar.  The  tool  of 
the  cameo  engraver  is  known  as  a  style. 

Perhaps  the  most  famous  stone  cameo  in  his- 
tory was  that  sardonyx  upon  which  Queen 
Elizabeth's  portrait  was  cut,  set  in  the  famous 
ring  which  she  gave  the  Earl  of  Essex  as  a 
pledge  of  her  friendship.  When  sentenced  to 
death,  Essex  sent  this  ring  to  his  cousin,  Lady 
Scroop,  to  deliver  to  Elizabeth.  By  mistake  the 
messenger  gave  the  ring  to  Lady  Scroop's  sister, 
Countess  Nottingham,  an  enemy  of  the  Earl ; 
the  vengeful  Countess  did  not  deliver  the  talis- 
manic  ring,  and  in  consequence  the  fated  Earl 
was  executed.  The  Countess  Nottingham  con- 
fessed this  act  of  vengeance  to  Elizabeth  when 
the  Countess  was  on  her  death-bed;  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  chroniclers  of  Elizabeth's  life 
history,  so  infuriated  the  Queen  that  she  shook 
the  dying  noblewoman,  saying,  "God  may  for- 
give you,  but  I  cannot."  -;  , 

Sardonyx — supposed  by  the  ancients  to  be  an 
entirely  different  mineral  from  onyx — was  be- 


1 82       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

lieved  to  have  the  power  of  conferring  eloquence 
upon  its  wearers;  it  symbolised  conjugal  bliss. 
In  Revelations  it  is  named  as  one  of  the  stones 
in  the  foundations  of  the  Holy  City. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

SEMI-PRECIOUS   STONES  OCCASIONALLY    USED 

'T'HE  mineral  world  contains  many  beautiful 
*  materials  that  are  without  the  pale  which 
encloses  the  clearly  defined  gem  stones;  these 
"  outlanders "  may  be  classed  as  semi-precious 
stones  that  are  only  occasionally  used,  and  while 
many  are  truly  beautiful  and  others  are  in- 
teresting, because  of  rarity  or  peculiarities,  all 
lack  some  quality — usually  a  sufficient  degree  of 
hardness — which  would  admit  them  into  the 
patrician  rank  of  Precious  Stones.  Because  of 
their  intense  scientific  interest,  technical  min- 
eralogists, who  have  written  books  about  gems, 
not  only  include  but  devote  considerable  space 
to  minerals  that  will  not  meet  the  eye  of  one 
manufacturing  jeweller  or  gem  dealer  in  one 
hundred,  or  ever  be  seen  by  one  gem  buyer  in 
thousands.  These  stones  are  usually  not  so 
rare  in  nature  as  they  are  in  stores,  and  their 
cutting  and  mounting  is  usually  the  result  of 

an    individual    order;   otherwise   they   are   col- 

183 


1 84       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

lected  and  cut  only  for  collector's  specimens. 
Brief  mention  will  be  here  given  to  some  of 
the  minerals  that  occasionally  appear  and  are 
included  in  the  stocks  of  the  principal  stone 
merchants.  In  the  American  market  there 
is  a  difference  in  this  respect  between  the 
market  east  of  the  Pacific  coast  cities  and 
localities  near  them  or  close  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  the  Sierras,  because  that  moun- 
tainous region  is  a  great  mineral  treasure  house, 
yielding  many  welcome  finds  of  attractive  and 
beautiful  semi-precious  stones;  therefore  in  San 
Francisco,  Denver,  and  other  Western  cities, 
these  local  minerals  are  used  in  jewelry  to  a 
greater  extent  than  they  are  in  the  midland 
cities  and  those  of  the  Eastern  States. 

Among  the  stones  most  likely  to  appear  from 
time  to  time  in  the  shops  are : 

ADAMANTINE  SPAR,  which  includes  hair- 
brown  varieties  of  corundum. 

ALABASTER.  Although  its  uses  in  the  arts 
are  principally  as  a  material  for  carvings,  stat- 
uettes, and  other  ornamental  objects,  alabaster 
is  frequently  worked  up  into  beads,  pins,  and 
other  jewelry.  Alabaster  is  a  fine-grained 
white  or  clouded  variety  of  gypsum;  it  holds  a 
place  so  low  in  the  Mohs  scale  of  hardness — 2 


Semi-Precious  Stones  185 

— that  it  seems  absurd,  in  this  respect,  to  class 
it  with  even  the  semi-precious  stones. 

AMATKICE  is  a  recently  discovered  mineral, 
qualified  more  or  less  for  inclusion  in  the  gem 
family.  Exploited  as  a  gem  mineral  by  its  dis- 
coverers and  miners  it  is  eagerly  sought  for  by 
collectors.  Amatrice  was  discovered  in  the 
Stansbury  range  at  the  western  edge  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  in  Tooele  County,  Utah.  It 
is  heralded  as  a  combination  of  variscite  and 
wardite,  in  conjunction  with  crypto-crystalline 
quartz,  chalcedony,  sodium  oxide,  and  traces 
of  iron  and  potassium.  This  mineral  is  green, 
somewhat  resembling  turquoise  matrix,  but  its 
chromatic  variation  is  its  most  remarkable  char- 
acteristic, no  two  stones  being  alike.  Its  hard- 
ness is  between  six  and  seven.  Amatrice  is 
offered  now  in  cut  form.  The  foster-parents  of 
amatrice  originated  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
it  is  distinctly  an  American  matrix. 

AMAZONITE,  or  amazonstone,  is  a  beautiful 
bluish  green  mineral  found  in  Siberia  and 
Scotland  and  also  at  Pike's  Peak,  Colorado; 
hardness  6.5.  Amazonstone,  with  aventurine, 
is  now  classed  by  mineralogists  with  microline, 
one  of  the  feldspars,  which  occurs  massive  and 
in  triclinic  crystals. 


1 86       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

AZURITE  is  a  variety  of  carbonate  of  copper 
which  shows  various  shades  of  azure,  merging 
into  Berlin  blue.  Azurite  is  both  opaque  and 
soft — hardness,  4 — and  these  characteristics 
limit  its  use  for  gem  purposes. 

BENITOITE.  A  newly  discovered  gem  min- 
eral of  California,  blue  in  colour,  and  said,  when 
selected  crystals  are  cut  in  the  right  direction, 
to  rival  the  sapphire  in  colour  and  to  excel  the 
blue  corundum  gem  in  brilliancy.  The  mineral 
is  dichroic,  the  ordinary  ray  colourless,  the  ex- 
traordinary ray  blue.  Benitoite  crystallises  in 
the  hexagonal  system,  trigonal  division;  its 
most  common  habit  is  pyramidal;  cleavage,  im- 
perfect pyramidal;  fracture,  conchoidal  to  sub- 
conchoidal;  hardness,  6  to  G1/^;  highly  refrac- 
tive. Benitoite  fuses  to  a  transparent  glass  at 
about  3.  It  is  easily  attacked  by  hydrofluoric 
acid.  Chemically,  benitoite  is  a  very  acid  titano- 
silicate  of  barium.  Benitoite  was  discovered  in 
1907  by  Mr.  Hawkins  and  T.  Edwin  Sanders  in 
the  Mt.  Diabolo  range  near  the  San  Benito- 
Fresno  County  line.  The  mineral  was  deter- 
mined at  the  University  of  California,  and  is 
described  in  a  bulletin  of  its  geological  depart- 
ment by  George  Davis  Louderback  and  Walter 
C.  Blasdale. 


BANDED    NODULES    OF   AZURITE   AND    MALACHITE 
Specimens  in  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum 


TOPAZ  CRYSTALS,   WITH  SMOKY  QUARTZ 
Specimen  in  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum 


Semi-Precious  Stones  187 

CAIRNGORM  is  the  brown  variety  of  rock 
crystal,  also  called  "  smoky  topaz."  Cairngorm 
has  a  sentimental  and  historic  interest  involved 
in  its  use  as  an  ornament  for  the  weapons  and 
picturesque  clan  dress  of  the  Scottish  High- 
landers. 

CARNELIAN  is  a  reddish  variety  of  chalce- 
dony, merging  into  greyish  red,  yellow,  and 
brown;  it  is  translucent,  like  horn.  Carnelian 
takes  a  high  polish  and  its  colours  are  some- 
times heightened  by  exposure  to  the  sun  or  by 
heat.  This  attractive  semi-precious  stone  was 
formerly  much  more  extensively  used  than  now, 
and  its  merits  may,  through  the  vagaries  of 
fancy  and  fashion,  which  govern  the  fates  of 
all  gems,  again  raise  it  higher  in  popular  favour. 

CHONDRONITE,  a  mineral  that  is  found 
abundantly  at  the  Tilly  Foster  mine  in  Brewster, 
Putnam  County,  New  York,  appears  in  deep 
garnet-red  crystals  of  great  beauty.  Chondron- 
ite  is  classed  with  the  minor  gems,  and  it  de- 
serves a  more  extensive  use.  Hardness,  6.5.  It 
has  a  vitreous  lustre. 

DIOPSIDE  is  a  variety  of  pyroxene;  hard- 
ness, 5  to  6;  lustre,  vitreous  or  greasy;  trans- 
parent to  translucent;  and  doubly  refractive. 
Fine  specimens,  fit  for  gem  purposes,  are  found 


1 88       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

near  DeKalb,  St.  Lawrence  County,  New  York. 
When  cut  brilliant,  diopside  makes  a  very  at- 
tractive stone  and  resembles  green  tourmaline. 

DIOPTASE  is  a  silicate  of  copper;  other 
names  for  it  are  achirite  and  Congo  emerald; 
hardness,  5.  The  softness  and  brittleness  of 
this  attractive  stone  disqualify  it  for  extensive 
use. 

FLUORITE  or  fluorspar,  of  which  chloro- 
phane  or  cobra  stone  is  a  variety,  is  a  highly 
lustrous,  brittle  crystal  of  wide  colour  range; 
hardness,  4.  Varieties  of  fluorspar  are  some- 
times termed,  in  the  trade,  "  false "  ruby,  em- 
erald, sapphire,  and  other  well-known  gem 
stones. 

GOLD-QUARTZ — in  crystals,  filiform,  retic- 
ulated, and  arborescent  shapes — is  commonly 
worn  as  a  jewel.  Gold  penetrating  white, 
black,  rose,  and  amethystine  quartz,  is  worked 
into  jewelry  of  all  sorts,  sometimes  of  very 
elaborate  designs.  These  uses  of  gold-quartz 
are  most  common  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  in 
western  North  American  cities. 

HEMATITE,  composed  of  iron  70,  oxygen 
30,  is  commonly  cut  into  beads,  charms,  and 
intaglios.  Chromic  iron  and  ilmenite  are  simi- 
larly used.  Although  this  iron  ore  is  steel-grey, 


Semi- Precious  Stones  189 

when  polished,  its  streak,  when  scratched,  is 
red ;  hence  the  name  hematite,  meaning  "  blood- 
stone." 

IOLITE,  also  called  dichroite  and  water  sap- 
phire, is  a  pleochroic  mineral  occasionally  c*ut 
for  gem  purposes.  It  is  somewhat  harder  than 
quartz. 

JET  is  a  soft  compact  light  coal  of  a  lustrous 
velvet  black  colour,  and  can  be  highly  polished. 
It  is  used  not  polished  for  mourning  goods.  Jet 
was  the  agates  of  the  ancients,  their  source  of 
supply  being  near  the  river  Gagas  in  Syria, 
from  which  the  name  of  the  mineral  was  de- 
rived. 

LABRADOR ITE,  sometimes,  in  the  trade, 
called  labrador,  is  a  feldspar.  Because  of  its 
structure  some  of  the  varieties  of  labradorite 
reveal  a  wonderful  variety  of  colours.  Labra- 
dorite can  be  highly  polished  and  exhibits 
beautiful  chatoyant  reflections. 

LAPIS-LAZULI  was  long  regarded  as  a 
separate  specific  mineral ;  it  was  the  sapphire  of 
the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 
Instead  of  being  a  simple  mineral,  lapis-lazuli 
consists  of  a  bluish  substance  (lazurite)  with 
granular  calcite,  scapolite,  diopside,  amphibole 
mica,  pyrite,  etc.  The  hardness  of  lapis-lazuli 


190       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

is  5.5;  specific  gravity,  about  2  to  4;  lustre, 
vitreous;  translucent  to  opaque. 

LAVA  can  hardly  be  classed  as  a  semi-precious 
stone,  but  it  is  and  has  been  quite  extensively 
utilised  in  jewelry,  chiefly  on  account  of  senti- 
mental association  with,  and  as  souvenirs  of,  vol- 
canoes. Lava  is  the  fusion  of  various  mineral 
substances  due  to  the  heat  and  force  of  erup- 
tions from  the  interior  of  the  earth;  it  varies 
in  structure  and  constituents,  but  the  surface 
lava  is  usually  massive  with  vesicular  or  porous 
marks;  fracture,  splintery  and  conchoidal; 
lustre,  dull  or  glistening;  it  is  opaque  and  of 
various  colours  and  shades.  Lava  frequently 
contains  crystals — feldspar,  lenate,  hornblende, 
garnet,  and  other  minerals.  Vesuvian  lava  of 
a  blue  tint  resembles  transparent  enamel,  and 
is  mounted  in  brooches  and  rings;  cameos  and 
intaglios  are  sometimes  cut  on  it. 

MAGNETITE,  or  lodestone,  possessing  polar- 
ity, is  used  for  charms,  because  of  the  mystical 
properties  attributed  to  it. 

MALACHITE  is  carbonate  of  copper  of  a 
bright  green  colour.  When  this  copper  ore  oc- 
curs in  conjunction  with  azurite,  the  companion 
minerals  are  cut  together,  with  a  pleasing  effect. 

OBSIDIAN  is  compact  volcanic  glass,  and  is 


Semi-Precious  Stones  191 

cut  for  gem  purposes  to  a  greater  extent  than 
some  of  the  other  semi-precious  stones  here  re- 
ferred to.  Varieties  are  moldavite,  or  bottle 
stone,  of  a  green  colour;  marekanite  or  moun- 
tain mahogany,  a  red  or  black  and  brown  banded 
kind;  and  Iceland  agate;  pearlylite;  and  sphaer- 
ulite. 

PHENACITE,  of  gem  quality,  is  transparent, 
colourless,  and  of  a  vitreous  lustre.  This  bril- 
liant mineral  is  harder,  heavier,  and  more 
refractive  than  quartz,  which  it  so  closely  re- 
sembles, so  that  it  was  not  until  1833  that 
mineralogists  differentiated  between  them.  Its 
name,  phenacite,  is  derived  from  the  Greek  word 
phenax,  meaning  a  deceiver,  Phenacite  remotely 
resembles  the  diamond  in  its  brilliancy  and  re- 
fractiveness.  Some  specimens  exhibit  pale-rose 
and  wine-yellow  colours. 

PYRITE  is  a  brass-yellow  mineral  of  metallic 
lustre  known  to  jewellers  as  sulphur-stone  and 
technically  as  marcasite.  It  is  a  common  min- 
eral, and  is  so  frequently  mistaken  by  the  un- 
informed for  gold  that  it  has  earned  the  so- 
briquet "fool's  gold."  Pyrite  is  a  sulphide  of 
iron.  Although  so  common  as  to  have  no  in- 
trinsic value,  pyrite  constantly  remains  in  use 
in  jewelry  and  is  seen  in  rings,  brooches,  and 


192       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

scarf  pins.  In  coal-mining  regions  it  is  sold  as 
souvenirs,  mounted  in  medium  to  low-priced 
settings. 

RUTILE  is  oxide  of  titanium,  containing  more 
or  less  iron.  When  sufficiently  transparent  and 
brilliant,  its  qualifications  of  hardness  and  ada- 
mantine lustre  make  it  a  very  desirable  gem 
stone.  The  colour  of  rutile  is  usually  reddish 
brown,  but  some  specimens  when  cut  closely  re- 
semble the  ruby.  Eutile  sometimes  forms  hair- 
like  crystals  penetrating  quartz  and  other 
transparent  minerals  with  a  very  curious  and 
beautiful  effect. 

SATIN  SPAR  is  a  form  of  gypsum,  white, 
with  a  delicately  fibrous  structure,  which,  when 
polished,  exhibits  a  beautiful  silky  lustre  and 
pearly  opalescence.  It  appears  in  the  jewelry 
trade  sometimes  in  necklaces,  charms,  and 
pendants.  A  great  trade  in  these  articles  is  a 
constant  source  of  revenue  at  Niagara  Falls, 
tourists  being  ready  purchasers  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  mineral  is  native  to  the  region; 
gypsum  is  found  at  Niagara  Falls  but  not  of 
this  variety;  the  raw  material  thus  used  is  ob- 
tained in  Wales. 

STAUKOLITE  occasionally  appears  among 
the  stones  handled  in  the  trade.  Colour,  red- 


Semi-Precious  Stones  193 

dish  brown  to  brownish  black;  hardness,  7.5. 
The  transparent  kinds  when  cut  resemble  gar- 
nets. Because  of  their  resemblance  to  a  cross, 
the  twinned  forms  are  used  to  quite  an  extent 
as  ornaments  and  charms;  there  is  a  tradition 
that  they  fell  from  heaven. 

TITANITE,  or  sphene,  possesses  an  adaman- 
tine lustre,  as  does  the  diamond,  and  gems  cut 
from  this  mineral  are  quite  effective,  but  they 
lack  the  desired  depth  of  colour  and  hardness 
to  confer  upon  them  a  higher  rank  in  the  com- 
pany of  gems.  The  colour  range  of  titanite  is 
considerable,  and  transparent  pieces,  according 
to  their  colour,  when  cut,  resemble  topaz,  gar- 
net, chrysolite,  and  other  stones.  Sphene  crys- 
tallises in  the  monoclinic  system,  the  crystals 
frequently  having  the  shape  of  a  wedge;  the 
name  sphene  is  taken  from  the  Greek  sphen, 
meaning  a  wedge. 

ZIRCON  is  alphabetically  the  omega  of  the 
semi-precious  stones  occasionally  used,  but,  as 
it  is  probably  used  much  more  than  any  other 
mineral  in  this  category,  it  is  almost  entitled 
to  a  chapter  of  its  own.  High  specific  gravity 
and  an  adamantine  lustre  are  two  marked  char- 
acteristics of  this  mineral.  Zircons  are  called 
"  Matura  diamonds,"  because  of  their  abundance 


194       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

at  Matura,  Ceylon.  Colourless  or  smoky  zir- 
cons are  called  jargons  or  jargoons.  Trans- 
parent zircons  of  a  brownish,  red-orange  colour 
are  called  hyacinth  or  jacinth.  Zircon  is  the 
heaviest  gem  mineral — more  than  four  times  the 
weight  of  water — its  specific  gravity  being  4.2 
to  4.86.  Its  hardness  is  7y2.  So  high  is  its 
index  of  refraction — 1.92 — that  it  approaches 
the  diamond  in  brilliancy  when  cut.  Zircons  of 
gem  quality  come  mostly  from  Ceylon,  where 
they  are  found  in  the  form  of  rolled  pebbles. 
Zircon  is  found  in  various  American  localities, 
but  it  is  opaque. 


DIAMOND  CUTTER  AND   SETTER  AT    WORK 


DIAMOND  SAWING  MACHINES 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

CUTTING  DIAMONDS  AND  OTHER  GEMS 

PRECIOUS  stones  in  the  rough  are  seldom 
*  things  of  beauty.  The  most  valuable  gem 
stones  might  be  dismissed  with  contemptuous 
glance  by  an  inexperienced  finder,  as  no  doubt 
has  often  been  the  case.  Ancient  gems  that 
have  been  benefited  only  to  the  extent  of  the 
crude  handiwork  of  the  artisans  of  their  period, 
reveal  but  little  of  the  imprisoned  chromatic 
beauty  and  flaming  splendour  that  would  make 
them  magnificent  under  the  scientific  and  artis- 
tic treatment  of  a  modern  diamond-cutter  or 
lapidary.  Thus  the  work  of  the  highly  skilled 
artisans,  who  cut  diamonds,  with  their  co- 
operators,  who  set  the  diamond  in  a  tool  with 
which  the  cutter  applies  the  rough  stone  to  the 
grinding  wheel,  and  the  toil  of  the  lapidary, 
who  cuts,  forms,  and  polishes  semi-precious 
stones,  are  of  the  greatest  importance  in  making 
possible  the  beauty  and  value  of  gems.  Here 
it  may  be  said  that  the  craft  of  the  diamond 
195 


196       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

cutter  and  the  trade  of  the  lapidary  are  ab- 
solutely separate  and  distinct  in  the  methods 
that  each  employs  in  cutting  and  polishing  gem 
minerals.  The  diamond  cutter  cuts  diamonds 
only.  The  lapidary  cuts  and  polishes  all  other 
precious  and  semi-precious  stones.  Both  dia- 
mond cutter  and  lapidary  prepare  the  way  for 
the  craft  of  the  jeweller,  to  whose  judgment  and 
art  in  design  and  manufacture  the  cut  gem  owes 
its  environment,  which  will  go  far  to  increase 
or  mar  its  beauty.  For  the  jewellers'  art  is  as 
important  to  the  gem  as  the  scenic  artist's  and 
stage  manager's  is  to  the  actor's  dramatic  art; 
and  without  intelligent  co-operation,  the  jew- 
eller might  detract  from  the  appearance  of  a 
gem  that  the  capable  diamond  cutter  or  lapi- 
dary has  done  so  much  to  enhance. 

Thus  the  cutting  of  gem  stones  is  necessary 
for  the  full  development  of  the  inherent  prop- 
erties upon  which  their  beauty  is  dependent. 
A  gem,  as  extracted  from  the  earth,  may  be 
opaque,  irregular  in  form,  and  contain  super- 
ficial flaws  and  imperfections ;  but  when  relieved 
of  its  incrustations  and  reduced  to  a  size  that 
would  permit  of  the  elimination  of  its  imperfect 
portions,  it  becomes  transparent  and  its  im- 
prisoned fires  are  released  in  brilliant  flashes. 


Cutting  Diamonds  and  Other  Gems     197 

Occasionally  a  gem  does  appear  which,  without 
artifice,  may  plainly  show  its  qualifications  for 
high  rank  in  the  court  of  gems;  but,  in  the 
main,  the  development  of  its  beauty  to  a  high 
degree  necessitates  cutting  and  polishing.  The 
highly  specialised  work  of  the  diamond  cutter 
or  lapidary  involves  compliance  with  geomet- 
rical principles  and  rules;  adaptation  to  the 
place  occupied  by  the  gem  stone  under  treat- 
ment; a  knowledge  of  the  clearly  defined  science 
of  crystallography,  especially  with  regard  to 
the  planes  of  cleavage;  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  stone's  degree  of  hardness,  brit- 
tleness,  and  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  established  forms  of  cutting  and  the  re- 
sults achieved  through  them  with  different 
kinds  of  gem  minerals  and  their  chromatic 
varieties. 

The  art  of  gem-cutting  has  progressed  grad- 
ually from  the  crudest  beginning.  Man's  first 
attempts  to  artificially  improve  the  appearance 
of  gem  stones  extended  only  to  polishing  the 
natural  surfaces;  later,  the  worker  essayed  to 
round  the  rough  corners,  and  in  the  course  of 
the  evolution  of  this  art,  efforts  were  made  to 
reduce  the  stone  to  a  symmetrical  shape.  Gem- 
cutting  by  Oriental  workmen,  in  the  island  of 


198      A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Ceylon,  Burma,  and  India,  has,  even  now,  ad- 
vanced but  little  beyond  its  crude  beginnings. 
The  Asiatic  artisan  uses  a  polishing  disc  on  the 
left  end  of  a  horizontal  wooden  axle,  which  re- 
volves in  sockets  on  two  upright  pegs  driven 
into  the  earth  or  set  in  the  timbers  or  boards 
which  floor  his  dwelling  or  shop.  The  motor 
for  this  machine  is  a  long  stick  to  which  a  cord 
is  tied,  as  to  a  bow,  at  each  end,  one  turn  hav- 
ing been  taken  around  the  axle;  the  motive 
power  is  supplied  by  the  right  hand  and  arm  of 
the  operator,  who  moves  the  stick  back  and 
forth;  there  is  usually  no  holding  tool;  the 
stone  is  held  in  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand  and 
thus  pressed  against  the  surface  of  the  polish- 
ing wheel.  The  abrasive  powders  of  corundum 
or  some  mineral  nearly  as  hard,  mixed  with 
water  to  a  paste  of  suitable  consistency,  are  at 
hand,  contained  in  the  halves  of  cocoanut  shells. 
The  earliest  record  of  the  artificial  improvement 
of  gems  by  the  ancient  Greek  and  Eoman  arti- 
sans proves  them  to  have  had  higher  ideals  and 
more  invention  than  Orientals,  especially  in  the 
matter  of  imparting  to  stones  symmetrical  forms ; 
the  greatest  advance  they  made,  however,  in 
the  treatment  of  gem  minerals,  was  in  their  art 
in  cutting  cameos  and  intaglios,  their  engraving 


Cutting  Diamonds  and  Other  Gems    199 

of  gems  having  early  reached  a  surprisingly  high 
state  of  perfection. 

The  centres  of  the  art  and  industry  of  dia- 
mond-cutting are  at  Amsterdam  in  Holland  and 
Antwerp  in  Belgium,  but  the  very  highest  form  of 
the  art  was  initiated  in  and  is  practised  in  these 
United  States;  here,  without  senseless  waste  and 
extravagance,  the  intrinsic  value  of  precious 
stones,  as  determined  by  their  weights,  is  sac- 
rificed to  artistic  effect,  beauty,  and  brilliancy. 
This  high  degree  of  gem  treatment  is  in  strong 
contrast  with  the  more  economical  practice  in 
Europe,  and  is  the  antithesis  of  the  custom  in 
Oriental  countries,  where  weight  is  conserved 
at  the  expense  of  brilliancy  and  beauty. 

The  styles  of  cut  may  be  grouped  as  follows : 
1,  those  bounded  by  plane  surfaces  only;  2, 
those  bounded  by  curved  surfaces  only;  3,  those 
bounded  by  both  curved  and  plane  surfaces. 
The  styles  of  the  first  group  are  best  applicable 
to  transparent  stones,  as  the  diamond,  emerald, 
and  ruby;  they  are  brilliant  cut,  double  brilliant 
or  Lisbon  cut,  half  brilliant  or  single  cut,  trap 
or  split  brilliant  cut,  Portuguese  cut,  star  cut, 
rose  cut,  or  briolette,  step  brilliant  or  mixed 
cut,  table  cut,  and  the  twentieth-century  cut; 
this  is  a  combination  of  facets  that  was  experi- 


200       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

mented  with  but  not  very  successfully  about  the 
year  1903.  Styles  of  the  second  and  third 
groups  are  best  adapted  to  translucent  and 
opaque  stones,  such  as  the  opal,  turquoise,  moon- 
stone, and  cat's-eye.  Both  the  first  and  second 
styles  are  applied  to  garnets,  which  are  cut 
either  with  facets  or  convex  (or  en  cabochon), 
and  when  thus  cut  they  are  termed  carbuncles. 
The  styles  of  the  second  group  are  bounded  by 
curved  surfaces;  they  are  the  single  cabochon 
cut,  double  cabochon  cut,  hollow  cabochon  cut, 
and  tallow  top  cabochon  cut.  The  third  divi- 
sion of  styles  are  those  bounded  by  curved  and 
plane  surfaces,  represented  by  the  mixed  cabo- 
chon cut 

The  brilliant  cut  could  be  represented  by  two 
truncated  pyramids,  placed  base  to  base;  the 
upper  pyramid,  the  crown,  is  truncated  in  a 
manner  to  give  a  large  plane  surface ;  the  lower 
one,  the  pavilion,  ends  almost  in  a  point.  The 
line  of  junction  of  the  bases  of  the  two  pyramids 
is  called  the  girdle.  While  there  are  many 
modifications  of  this  style,  as  to  the  size, 
mutual  proportions,  and  number  of  facets,  the 
facets  in  the  perfect  brilliant  number  fifty- 
eight.  The  top  facet  is  called  the  table,  and 
is  formed  by  removing  one  third  of  the  thick- 


Cutting  Diamonds  and  Other  Gems    201 

ness  of  the  fundamental  octahedron ;  the  bottom 
facet  is  called  the  culet,  or  collet,  and  is  formed 
by  removing  one  eighteenth  part  of  the  stone's 
thickness.  The  triangular  facets  touching  the 
table  or  summit  of  the  crown  are  called  star 
facets ;  those  touching  the  girdle  are  divided  into 
two  groups,  skill  facets  and  skew  facets.  The 
corner  facets  touching  the  table  and  the 
girdle,  when  on  the  crown,  and  the  culet  and 
girdle,  when  on  the  pavilion,  are  called,  respec- 
tively, bezel  or  bizel  facets,  and  pavilion  facets. 
A  summary  of  the  number  of  facets  and  their 
distribution  is  as  follows:  1  table,  16  skill 
facets,  16  skew  facets,  8  star  facets,  8  quoins, 
4  bezel  facets,  4  pavilion  facets,  and  one  culet. 
Sometimes  the  cut  is  modified  by  adding  extra 
facets  around  the  culet,  making  sixty-six  in  all. 
The  brilliant  cut  is  especially  applicable  to 
the  diamond;  when  perfect  it  should  be  pro- 
portioned as  follows:  From  the  table  to  the 
girdle,  one  third,  and  from  the  girdle  to  the 
culet  two  thirds  of  the  total.  The  diameter  of 
the  table  should  be  four  ninths  of  the  breadth 
of  the  stone.  These  proportions  when  applied 
to  other  stones  than  the  diamond  are  modified 
to  suit  the  individual  optical  constants  of  the 
gem. 


202       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

The  double  brilliant,  or  Lisbon  cut,  is  a  form 
with  two  rows  of  lozenge-shaped  facets,  and 
three  rows  of  triangular-shaped  facets,  seventy- 
four  in  all. 

The  half  brilliant,  single,  or  old  English  cut 
is  the  simplest  form  of  the  brilliant  and  is  now 
generally  employed  for  small  stones;  when  the 
top  is  cut  so  as  to  form  an  eight-pointed  star 
it  is  called  the  English  single  cut. 

The  trap  brilliant,  or  split  brilliant,  differs 
from  the  brilliant  in  having  the  foundation 
squares  divided  horizontally  into  two  triangular 
facets,  forty-two  in  all. 

The  Portuguese  cut  has  two  rows  of  rhom- 
boidal  and  three  rows  of  triangular  facets  above 
and  below  the  girdle. 

In  the  star  cut  the  table  is  hexagonal  in 
shape,  and  is  one  fourth  of  the  diameter  of  the 
stone;  from  the  table  spring  six  equilateral 
triangles,  whose  apexes  touch  the  girdle,  and 
these  triangles,  by  the  prolongation  of  their 
points,  form  a  star. 

The  crown  of  the  rose  cut  consists  of  triangu- 
lar or  star  facets,  whose  apexes  meet  at  the 
point  or  crown  of  the  rose.  The  base  lines  of  these 
star  facets  form  the  base  lines  for  a  row  of 
skill  facets  whose  apexes  touch  the  girdle,  leav- 


Cutting  Diamonds  and  Other  Gems    203 

ing  spaces  which  are  cut  into  two  facets.  The 
base  may  be  either  flat  or  the  bottom  may  be 
cut  like  the  crown,  making  a  double  rose  or 
briolette  cut.  The  shape  of  a  rose-cut  stone 
may  be  circular,  oval,  or,  indeed,  any  other  to 
which  the  rough  stone  may  be  adapted. 

In  the  trap  or  step  cut,  the  facets  extend 
longitudinally  around  the  stone  from  the  table 
to  the  girdle,  and  from  the  girdle  to  the  culet. 
There  are  usually  but  two  or  three  tiers  of  step 
facets  from  the  table  to  the  girdle,  while  the 
number  of  steps  from  the  girdle  to  the  culet 
depends  upon  the  thickness  and  colour  of  the 
stone.  This  style  of  cut  is  best  adapted  to 
coloured  stones. 

The  form  of  the  step  brilliant,  or  mixed  cut, 
from  culet  to  girdle  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
trap  cut,  while  from  the  girdle  to  the  table  the 
stone  is  brilliant  cut,  or  the  opposite. 

The  table  cut  consists  of  a  greatly  developed 
table  and  culet  meeting  the  girdle  with  bevelled 
edges.  Occasionally  the  eight-edge  facets  are 
replaced  by  a  border  of  sixteen  or  more  facets. 

The  twentieth-century  cut  contains  more 
facets  than  the  brilliant  and  is  differently 
shaped  and  arranged.  Originally  this  style  was 
designed  with  eighty-eight  facets  and  propor- 


204       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tions  similar  to  the  American  brilliant,  but  with 
a  greater  height  from  the  girdle  to  the  centre 
of  the  table,  caused  by  the  facets  replacing  the 
table  being  carried  to  a  low  pyramidal  point  in 
the  centre.  Subsequently  the  style  was  modi- 
fied, the  stone  being  cut  thinner  and  with  but 
eighty  facets,  the  central  top  facets  being  al- 
most flat.  This  cut  is  helpful  in  some  cases, 
especially  to  shallow  stones,  but  it  probably 
exceeds  the  limit  of  efficiency  in  the  effort  to 
increase  the  surface  reflection  and  dispersion  of 
light  rays,  and  experience  has  not  demonstrated 
its  success. 

The  cabochon  cuts  represent  different  degrees 
of  convexity  above  the  girdle,  and  beneath  a 
concave,  plane,  or  slightly  convex  surface.  The 
double  cabochon  is  customarily  cut  with  a 
smaller  curvature  on  the  base  than  on  the  crown. 
The  single  cabochon  is  a  characteristic  cut  for 
the  turquoise.  The  hollow  cabochon  is  best  for 
deep-coloured  transparent  stones.  The  mixed 
cabochon  has  either  the  edge  or  side,  or  both, 
faceted.  The  degree  of  convexity  in  the  various 
cabochon  cuts  is  made  to  depend  upon  the  na- 
ture of  the  stone  to  which  the  cut  is  to  be 
applied.  The  cabochon  cuts  are  specifically 
within  the  province  of  the  lapidary. 


Cutting  Diamonds  and  Other  Gems    205 

The  process  of  cutting  gems  is  simple,  but 
the  results  are  due  to  the  skill  and  especially 
to  the  judgment  of  the  cutter.  That  part  of  the 
surface  of  a  rough  stone  at  which  it  is  desired 
to  place  a  facet  is  rubbed  with  a  harder  stone 
or  with  some  other  effective  substance.  The 
harder  stone  or  substance  abrades  small  frag- 
ments and  powder  from  the  softer,  and  grad- 
ually the  surface  of  the  subject  mineral  is 
transformed  into  a  plane  face,  or  facet.  In  like 
manner  other  facets  are  added  or  a  rounded 
surface  is  produced  by  similar  means.  In 
grinding,  the  harder  stone  or  abrasive  material 
is  reduced  to  a  fine  powder  and  mixed  with 
olive  oil  into  a  paste  (if  diamond  powder),  OP 
with  water  (if  emery),  and  placed  near  the 
edge  of  a  circular  disk,  or  "  lap,"  which  is  about 
twelve  inches  in  diameter  and  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness. The  lap,  usually  of  metal,  revolves  hori- 
zontally with  great  velocity,  and  the  precious 
stone  to  be  ground  is  pressed  against  the  disk 
where  the  disk  is  loaded  with  the  abrasive  paste; 
the  pressure  causes  the  powder  to  become  em- 
bedded in  the  soft  metal  of  the  disk.  This  acts 
as  a  file,  equal  in  hardness  to  the  grinding 
powder.  The  duration  of  the  operation  depends 
upon  the  hardness  of  the  precious  stone  and  of 


206       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

the  abrasive  material.  The  skill  required  of  the 
operator  involves  the  most  careful  watchfulness 
against  exceeding  the  size  prescribed  in  the  plan 
for  the  stone ;  also  against  overheating  the  stone, 
which  causes  the  development  of  small  cracks  in 
the  interior  of  the  stone  called  "  icy  flakes."  An 
essential  prerequisite  for  grinding  precious 
stones  is  a  means  by  which  they  can  be  held 
steadily  and  true  in  a  desired  position.  For 
this  the  diamond-polisher  uses  a  time-honoured 
tool  called  a  "dop"  (commonly  pronounced 
"dub").  This  holder  of  the  rough  diamond  is 
a  small  hemispherical  cup  of  iron  attached  by 
the  convex  side  to  a  stout  copper  rod.  The  cup 
is  filled  with  an  easily  fusible  alloy  of  tin  and 
lead,  which  is  fused  and  allowed  to  cool;  just 
before  this  composition  solidifies  the  stone  to 
be  cut  is  set  in  the  position  desired  in  the  cool- 
ing alloy,  with  about  half  its  bulk  projecting 
from  the  metal.  Thus  the  stone  is  firmly  fixed 
in  an  immovable  position.  The  semi-precious 
stones,  when  cut  by  the  lapidary,  are  set  in  the 
end  of  a  wooden  holder,  or  "  stick,"  with  some 
kind  of  resinous  cement. 

Diamond  cutters  formerly  cut  the  diamonds 
in  a  small  wooden  box  especially  designed  for 
this  use;  all  of  the  operator's  strength  was 


Cutting  Diamonds  and  Other  Gems    207 

needed  to  rub  two  diamonds  together,  a  pro- 
cess called  "  bruting,"  so  that  the  attrition  un- 
der this  pressure  would  cut  the  stone  into  the 
shape  desired.  About  the  year  1888  the  first 
machine  was  invented  to  shape  diamonds,  and 
the  cutter,  who  formerly  had  to  cut  the  stone 
twice,  or  several  times,  accomplishes  the  same 
result  in  one  operation.  All  diamond-cutting 
in  America  is  now  done  by  machine,  while  in 
Europe  the  smaller  sizes  are  still  cut  by  hand 
in  the  old  tedious  and  laborious  method.  The 
tools  for  polishing  remained  unimproved  from 
the  inception  of  the  modern  diamond-cutting  in- 
dustry until  the  year  1896,  when  the  machine 
dop  or  holder  was  invented.  This  modern  ma- 
chine dop,  although  still  an  imperfect  device, 
holds  the  stone  without  the  application  of  the 
mixture  of  lead  and  tin,  but  it  can  only  be  used 
for  stones  of  a  fair  size.  The  majority  of  the 
cutters  and  polishers  of  diamonds  in  the  United 
States  now  use  these  mechanical  dops,  as  the 
market  and  industry  in  America  demands  stones 
of  considerable  size  almost  entirely;  it  is  im- 
possible to  use  these  dops  for  the  stones  of  small 
size  exclusively  cut  in  Europe.  The  inventor 
of  the  machine  dop  also  invented  the  machine 
for  sawing  diamonds.  Through  the  use  of  this 


208       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

device  pieces  of  the  stones  which  were  formerly 
polished  away  and  ground  to  worthless  black 
dust  are  now  saved.  The  economy  effected  by 
the  sawing  machine  is  illustrated  by  its  use  in 
cutting  off  the  apexes  of  the  rough  diamond 
crystals;  the  smaller  parts,  called  melee,  are 
sent  back  to  Europe  to  be  cut. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

•  IMITATIONS,  IMPROVEMENTS,  AND  EECONSTEUCTION 

COUNTERFEITING  precious  stones  of  the 
^-^  higher  classes  has  the  same  motive  as 
counterfeiting  coin  or  paper  money,  and  is 
easier,  because  gems  have  no  official  character- 
istics, the  physical  and  chemical  characteristics 
are  known  to  but  few,  and  the  counterfeiter 
does  not  hazard  the  penalties  that  the  stringent 
laws  of  all  nations  enact  against  counterfeiters 
of  the  currency,  the  deterrent  and  punitive  ef- 
fects of  which,  however,  despite  their  severity, 
have  never  entirely  prevented  successful  counter- 
feiting. The  counterfeiter  of  precious  stones, 
and  the  dealer  who  knowingly  and  deceptively 
sells  his  product  for  an  undue  profit,  swindle,  and 
they  are  amenable  to  the  criminal  and  civil  laws, 
if  evidence  can  be  secured  upon  which  to  base 
successful  prosecution  and  suits,  a  difficult  mat- 
ter generally,  especially  to  prove  guilty  know- 
ledge and  intent.  An  enormous  quantity  of 
imitation  gems  is  constantly  being  manufac- 
14  209 


210       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tured  and  sold  under  various  qualifying  terms 
that  preclude  the  possibility  of  the  purchaser 
establishing  a  claim  that  deception  was  prac- 
tised, and  in  most  cases  the  price  paid  was  far 
from  that  which  a  genuine  stone  of  equal  weight 
would  bring  in  any  market.  These  imitations 
frequently  bring  to  their  buyers  one  disappoint- 
ment, in  that  their  brilliancy  soon  deteriorates 
or  fades  almost  entirely.  Sometimes  "  dia- 
monds," which  are  qualified  with  such  prefixes 
as  "  Alaska,"  "  Sumatra,"  "  Borneo,"  or  any 
other  name  dictated  by  the  dealer's  fancy  and 
which,  it  is  hoped,  will  sound  to  the  ear  of  a  pos- 
sible customer  like  a  locality  where  diamond 
mines  might  be,  are  quartz  or  some  other  simple 
mineral;  but  in  general  they  are  of  glass  that 
has  long  borne  the  time-honoured  name  of 
"  paste."  Merchandise  of  this  peculiar  kind  is 
so  favourably  exhibited  in  show  windows  and 
showcases  by  electric  lights  and  other  advan- 
tages, as  to  deceive  the  inexperienced  prospective 
buyer.  By  the  merchants  who  offer  for  sale 
these  transparent  imitations  they  are  called 
"  white  stones." 

Every  gem  for  which  there  is  a  considerable 
demand  has  been,  is,  and,  probably,  always  will 
be,  imitated.  Another  name  for  "  paste "  is 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction    211 

"  strass,"  derived  from  a  man  named  Strass  of 
Strassburg,  capital  of  the  province  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  Germany,  who  invented  one  of  the 
several  formulae  and  processes  employed  to 
create  the  brilliant,  heavily  lead-impregnated 
glass  so  enormously  used  in  the  counterfeiting 
of  gems.  While  the  many  prescriptions  for  the 
strass  composition  vary  in  constituents  and  pro- 
portions, a  fair  sample  of  these  mixtures  is  as 
follows : 

Pure  powdered  quartz 38.2 

Bed  lead  53.3 

Potassium  carbonate  7.8 

The  ingredients  are  pulverised,  mixed,  and 
heated  in  a  crucible  with  a  temperature  raised 
gradually  until  the  compound  fuses,  with  great 
care.  It  is  maintained  at  that  point  for  about 
thirty  hours  and  then  slowly  decreased.  The 
factors  in  securing  a  result  that  will  fulfil  all 
requirements  are  the  thoroughness  of  the  pre- 
vious mixing,  the  regularity  of  the  temperature, 
the  duration  of  the  fusion,  and  the  slowness  of 
cooling.  The  clear  paste  is  cut  for  imitation 
diamonds*  while  for  the  coloured  gems  the  hue 
desired  is  imparted  by  the  solution  of  metallic 
oxides  and  other  substances;  manganese  oxide 


2i2       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

being  generally  used  for  the  ruby  and  cobalt 
oxide  for  the  sapphire  and  amethyst,  while 
copper  oxide  is  also  used  for  the  amethyst  and 
emerald,  with  traces  of  chrome  oxide  also,  for 
both  these  stones;  glass  of  antimony  is  also 
employed  in  colouring  imitation  rubies,  topaz, 
garnet,  amethyst,  and  aquamarine. 

The  simplest  proof  that  these  sophistications 
are  glass  is  the  employment  of  a  file,  the  use 
of  which  could  have  no  effect  upon  the  diamond 
or  upon  any  precious  stone  harder  than  quartz, 
unless  by  some  rough  handling  a  fracture  might 
be  caused.  Such  a  fracture  is  particularly  liable 
to  occur  at  the  girdle,  the  thinnest  part,  where  the 
test  is  usually  applied  because  the  result  would 
not  there  be  visible  in  a  set  stone.  Besides  their 
comparative  softness,  these  counterfeits  differ 
in  specific  gravity  from  genuine  gems,  they  are 
not  pleochroic  as  are  the  majority  of  gems,  and 
the  microscope  reveals  the  lines,  streaks,  and 
bubbles  usually  present  in  melted  glass.  True 
gems  are  colder  to  the  touch  than  glass,  as  a 
rule;  although  this  distinction  might  prove  too 
fine  to  be  relied  upon  by  the  inexperienced.  As 
gems  are  better  conductors  of  heat  than  glass, 
they  abstract  the  wrarmth  from  the  hand  more 
rapidly,  and  for  this  reason  also  gems,  when 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction     213 

%reathed   upon,    acquire   a    thicker    coating   of 
moisture  than  glass  and  lose  it  more  quickly. 

In  the  advance  chapter  from  the  Mineral  Re- 
sources of  the  United  States — calendar  year 
1906  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
entitled,  "  The  Production  of  Precious  Stones  in 
1906,"  by  Douglas  B.  Sterrett,  appears  a  valuable 
suggestion  for  a  simple  method  of  testing  some 
precious  stones,  made  by  Mr.  M.  D.  Rothschild, 
a  recognised  authority  on  gem  minerals  (this 
extract  was  republished  from  The  Jeweller's 
Circular-Weekly,  of  January  16,  1907) : 

"  The  test  is  applicable  to  a  number  of  minerals, 
and  can  be  made  by  any  jeweller  who  will  exercise 
care.  Hydrofluoric  acid  or  "  white  acid  "  (a  mixture 
of  ammonia  and  hydrofluoric  acid)  is  used.  The 
acid  should  never  be  allowed  to  come  into  contact 
with  the  skin,  as  it  is  very  poisonous  and  highly  cor- 
rosive, producing  painful  sores  and  ulcers.  The  stone 
to  be  tested  is  handled  with  forceps  and  immersed 
one  minute  in  the  acid;  then  it  is  removed  and  the 
acid  washed  off.  The  test  is  applicable  only  to 
diamond,  ruby,  sapphire,  spinel,  emerald,  aquama- 
rine, precious  topaz,  tourmaline,  garnet,  and  kuriz- 
ite,  which  are  unaffected  by  the  hydrofluoric  acid. 
The  test  is  not  applicable  to  turquoise  and  opal, 
which  are  rapidly  etched  or  eaten  away  by  this 
acid,  nor  to  peridot  and  the  quartz  gems,  as  ame- 
thyst, false  topaz,  crystal,  agate,  etc.,  which  have 
their  surfaces  dimmed  and  require  repolishing. 


214       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

Both  the  genuine  and  artificial  ruby  are  unaffected, 
while  all  imitations  made  of  paste,  as  imitation 
ruby,  sapphire,  emerald,  etc.,  are  quickly  attacked. 


To  M.  Antony  Jacques,  a  jeweller  of  Grenoble, 
France,  is  accredited  the  discovery  of  a  new 
method  of  detecting  counterfeit  emeralds  and 
garnets,  a  method  that  is  simple  and  that  can 
be  applied  by  any  person.  Through  two  coloured 
glasses,  placed  across  and  upon  one  another,  one 
blue  and  the  other  yellow,  the  stone  in  question 
is  examined,  the  stone  being  placed  directly 
against  an  electric  lamp.  The  genuine  emerald 
will  appear  to  be  of  a  violet  colour,  no  matter 
whether  it  is  a  "scientific,"  a  "reconstructed" 
gem,  or  an  ordinary  green  doublet.  The  most 
convincing  imitation  will  appear  unchanged  and 
the  deception  thus  easily  demonstrated.  A  gen- 
uine garnet  similarly  placed  upon  an  electric 
lamp  and  looked  at  through  pale-green  glass 
will  appear  decolourised,  while  a  counterfeit 
will  remain  a  garnet  colour.  The  author's  ex- 
periments have  demonstrated  the  efficiency  and 
reliability  of  these  tests. 

Besides  the  complete  imitation  of  gems  there 
are  partial  sophistications  in  which  considerable 
ingenuity  and  constructive  ability  are  displayed 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction     215 

by  creating  "doublets"  and  "triplets."  The 
doublet  is  constructed  with  the  table  and  crown 
of  a  genuine  stone,  usually  off-coloured,  ce- 
mented to  a  pavilion  made  of  a  paste  having 
the  approved  colour,  thus  giving  the  valueless 
crown  the  appearance  of  a  fine  stone.  The 
softness  of  its  pavilion  usually  betrays  the 
doublet.  As  a  guard  against  this  discovery  the 
triplet  was  invented.  This  is  a  real  gem,  usually 
pale  or  off-coloured,  with  a  thin  layer  of  coloured 
glass  at  the  girdle.  The  detection  of  this  com- 
bination usually  requires  the  magnifying  glass 
and  specific  gravity  tests;  the  glass  usually  be- 
trays the  deception,  and  if  soaked  in  alcohol, 
carbon  bisulphide,  or  ether,  the  fraud  usually 
separates.  Pearls  are  imitated  by  coating  the 
inner  surfaces  of  glass  beads  with  a  preparation 
made  from  fish-scales. 

Substitution  of  other  minerals  for  specific 
precious  stones  has  not  the  shadow  of  justifica- 
tion that  sometimes  softens  the  annoyance  of 
receiving,  or  being  offered,  "  something  just  as 
good  "  in  drugs,  groceries,  or  dry  goods.  The 
substitutes  sometimes  offered  or  proposed  for 
diamonds  include  white  sapphires,  zircon, 
quartz,  and  white  topaz.  Artifice  is  frequently 
employed  to  heighten  or  change  the  colour  of 


216       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

a  real  gem  by  thermal  or  chemical  treatment; 
thus  heat  may  remove  the  colour  or  increase 
the  brilliancy  of  topaz,  sapphire,  and  other  pre- 
^cious  stones.  Heat  will  change  the  colour  of 
a  wine-yellow  Brazilian  topaz  to  a  rose-pink; 
the  same  influence  may  whiten  and  render  more 
brilliant  an  off-coloured  or  spotted  diamond. 
A  high  temperature  will  often  alter  and  im- 
prove the  colour  of  the  cairngorm,  citrine  quartz, 
and  other  minor  gems.  Chemical  solutions  can 
be  successfully  applied  to  turquoise  to  deepen 
its  colour  and  invest  it  with  permanency;  agates 
are  commonly  dyed,  and  by  chemical  aid 
colourless  chalcedony  is  converted  into  an  ex- 
cellent imitation  of  the  moss  agate.  An  off- 
coloured  diamond  may  be  apparently  changed 
to  a  stone  of  good  water  by  a  wash  of  aniline 
blue,  but  the  effect  is  but  temporary.  Besides 
these,  the  interiors  of  settings  may  be  backed, 
stained,  or  enamelled,  usually  entirely  legitimate 
improvements. 

Far  different  from  the  imitation  of  gems  is 
the  making  of  them  by  artificial  means,  with 
the  result  of  a  real  gem  that  is  but  slightly  dis- 
tinguished from  those  produced  in  Nature's 
laboratory.  Although  there  are  distinctions  dis- 
cernible to  the  expert  with  the  aid  of  the 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction    217 

magnifying  glass,  the  gem  stones  thus  produced 
— that  are  worthy  of  notice — contain  the  same 
component  parts  in  their  proportions  that  the 
natural  stones  do,  and  equal  them  in  the  prin- 
cipal characteristics  of  hardness,  specific  grav- 
ity, and  refractiveness. 
To  quote  Wirt  Tassin : 

'A  sharp  distinction  is  to  be  drawn  between  the 
imitation  of  a  gem  stone  and  its  formation  by 
artificial  methods.  The  imitation  gem  only  sim- 
ulates the  natural  substance;  the  artificial  gem  is 
identical  with  it  in  all  its  chemical  and  physical 
properties.  Until  recently  the  laboratory  gem  was 
hardly  more  than  a  curiosity,  although  its  synthesis 
has  undoubtedly  been  of  value  from  the  theoretical 
standpoint.  Examples  of  this  class  are  to  be  found 
in  the  diamond  as  produced  by  Moissan  in  the  elec- 
tric furnace  and  the  synthesis  of  spinel  and  chryso- 
beryl  by  Ebelmen  from  mixtures  of  alumina  and 
glucina,  respectively,  using  boric  acid  at  very  high 
temperature  as  a  solvent.  Hydrofluoric  acid  and 
silicon  fluoride  have  also  been  used  to  induce  com- 
bination between  silica  and  other  oxides.  In  this 
manner  topaz,  a  complex  fluo-silicate,  has  been  made 
by  the  action  of  fluoride  of  silicon  upon  alumina. 

The  minerals  thus  formed  have  usually  been  very 
small  and  of  no  commercial  value.  Quite  recently, 
however,  rubies  have  been  produced  by  the  fusion 
of  alumina  with  a  trace  of  chromium  oxide  in  the 
electric  furnace,  and  the  art  has  progressed  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  product  is  now  on  the  market 


2i8       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

for  sale  as  watch  jewels.  The  electric  furnace  has 
also  produced  another  product  which,  while  strictly 
speaking  not  a  synthetic  gem,  yet  is  essentially 
an  artificial  one.  Imperfect  rubies,  chips,  and  small 
stones,  are  fused  in  the  furnace  together  with  the 
addition  of  a  small  amount  of  colouring  oxide  such 
as  chromium.  The  fused  product  is  then  cut  and 
polished,  and  the  result  is  a  ruby  of  good  colour 
and  of  fairly  large  size.  Emeralds  and  other 
coloured  stones  have  been  made  in  the  same  way, 
and  so  promising  has  the  industry  become  that  the 
courts  have  been  called  upon  to  decide  what  con- 
stitutes a  ruby.  Their  decision  was  in  substance 
that  the  word  ruby  could  be  legally  applied  only 
to  the  red-coloured  corundum,  anhydrous  oxide  of 
aluminum,  occurring  ready  formed  in  nature. 


Reconstructed  rubies  however  are  in  the  main 
rightly  placed  and  justly  valued,  for  they  are 
generally  used  in  large  quantities  for  medium- 
priced  jewelry. 

The  French  chemists  Fremy  and  Verneuil 
have  succeeded  in  manufacturing  true  gems, 
rubies  chiefly,  but  also  sapphires,  by  artificial 
processes.  A  title  given  to  gems  created  by  this 
or  similar  processes  by  man  is  "  scientific " 
ruby,  emerald,  sapphire,  or  whatever  the  gem 
may  be.  Mr.  Rudolph  Oblatt  of  New  York  is 
an  American  producer  of  the  "  reconstructed  " 
ruby,  which  has  attained  some  commercial  sue- 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction     219 

cess,  and  its  effect  upon  the  market  for  rubies, 
whether  this  be  considered  desirable  or  other- 
wise, has  been  to  lower  the  price  of  natural 
rubies  because  the  demand  has  been  lessened 
for  them;  this  applying  probably  only  to  stones 
of  one  carat  or  less.  When  "reconstructed 
rubies  "  were  first  offered  to  the  jewelry  trade 
in  Paris,  and  subsequently  in  the  United  States, 
their  makers  encountered  many  disheartening 
rebuffs;  to-day  many  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers who  at  first  were  horrified  by,  and  who 
resented  the  suggestion  of  using  the  "  recon- 
structed ruby,"  are  complacently  handling  them 
in  a  continually  increasing  market  for  medium 
grade  jewelry. 

Mr.  Oblatt  describes  his  process  as  follows : 

From  the  small  genuine  particles  of  ruby  or 
"  ruby  sand  "  found  with  the  real  rubies  in  Burma 
I  select  pieces  that  are  alike  in  colour  and  quali- 
ties; one  of  these  chips  I  place  upon  the  top  of  a 
"  U  "-shaped  platinum  iridium  tube.  Upon  this  is 
focussed  the  heat  from  two  jets  of  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  gas — for  the  latter  can  usually  be  sub- 
stituted gas  from  the  street  mains,  as  it  contains 
a  sufficient  proportion  of  hydrogen  gas  to  qualify 
it  for  this  use — with  a  pressure  of  eight  hundred 
pounds  to  the  inch,  producing  a  temperature  of  six 
thousand  degrees  F.  As  soon  as  the  first  chip  is 
melted  I  introduce  into  the  flame  at  the  end  of  an 


220       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

iridium  holder  a  second  chip,  which  when  it  melts 
flies  off  and  adheres  to  the  first  melted  chip  and 
they  are  fused  together.  The  continuation  of  this 
process  of  adding  particles  results  in  the  produc- 
tion of  a  genuine  ruby  of  the  shape  of  a  pear, 
resting  on  its  stem — the  first  chips  fused — varying 
from  five  to  ten  carats  in  weight.  The  operation 
last-  from  one  to  two  hours,  according  to  the  size 
of  ie  stone  produced.  The  most  difficult  part  of 
the  process  is  the  cooling;  Nature's  laboratory  in 
which  the  ruby  was  produced  had  the  resources  of 
a  tremendous  sustained  heat  and  a  cooling  process 
of  unknown  duration.  In  general,  Nature's  cool- 
ing process  was  too  rapid,  the  evidence  being  in 
the  minute  cracks,  called  ribbons,  which  run  through 
most  rubies  and  the  absence  of  which  makes  the 

/  perfect  ruby  one  of  the  rarest  and  costliest  of  stones, 
especially  when  the  cut  gem  weighs  two  carats  or 
more.  The  cooling  process  is  secret  and  one  of  the 
most  important  factors  in  the  achievement  of  the 
reconstructed  ruby.  The  enlarged  ruby  is  then  cut 

f  by  the  lapidary  exactly  as  is  the  natural  ruby,  for 
it  is  the  same  in  its  chemical  and  physical  constitu- 
tion. This  is  attested  by  analysis  made  by  very 
high  scientific  authorities,  their  reports  being  in  my 
possession  and  open  to  the  inspection  of  anyone. 

The  scientific  ruby  is  wholly  the  result  of  arti- 
ficial means  but  is  genuine  to  the  extent  of  being 
a  properly  proportioned  combination  of  the  chemical 
constituents  of  the  natural  ruby;  in  manufacturing 
the  scientific  ruby  we  begin  with  a  solution  of  com- 
mon alum,  to  which  a  trace  of  chrome  alum  is 
added  as  the  ultimate  colouring  constituent.  Nov 
add  ammonia,  and  there  results  a  gelatinous  pre- 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction    221 

cipitate  of  the  hydrates  of  aluminum  and  chromium. 
This  gelatinous  precipitate  is  filtered  off,  evaporated 
down  to  dryness,  and  subsequently  calcined  into  an 
intimate  mixture  of  alumina  and  the  oxide  of 
chromium.  It  is  then  ground  into  an  impalpable 
powder,  and  placed  in  the  transforming  apparatus. 
Through  a  tube  passes  a  supply  of  coal-gas,  through 
another  tube  a  supply  of  oxygen.  The  two  meet 
where  they  are  ignited,  and  constitute  a  caref^ly 
regulated  flame  whose  temperature  is  practic  '  ly 
two  thousand  degrees.  In  a  box  at  the  top,  is 
placed  the  powdered  alumina,  and  the  bottom  of 
this  box  consists  of  a  fine  sieve.  A  small  auto- 
matic tapper  carefully  jars  the  powder  through 
the  sieve  and  through  a  tube,  which  serves  for  the 
supply  of  oxygen.  It  thus  happens  that  every  trace 
of  the  powder  must  pass  through  the  flames  of  two 
thousand  degrees. 

In  a  critical  review  of  this  process  and  its 
results,  a  very  high  scientific  authority  stated 
that: 

These  properties  agree  exactly  with  those  of  the 
natural  ruby;  but  there  is  one  feature  by  which 
these  stones  could  be  recognised  as  having  been 
artificially  produced ;  and  that  is  by  the  form  of  the 
cavities  existing  in  them,  these  being  always  spheri- 
cal. The  "cavities  in  a  natural  ruby  are  always  of 
an  irregular  form,  and  this  would  always  afford  a 
means  of  detecting  the  artificial  stone. 

The  stones  are  rubies  and  are  not  imitations,  as 
so  many  of  their  predecessors  have  been.  But  they 


222       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

are  not  natural  rubies,  even  although  produced  from 
clippings  of  the  same,  since  the  crystalline  growth 
is  a  new  one  after  the  clippings  have  been  fused. 

The  sapphire  as  well  as  its  sister  of  the 
corundum  family,  the  ruby,  has  for  years  been 
the  object  of  solicitude  on  the  part  of  scientific 
experimentalists,  who  would  produce  real  sap- 
phires by  artificial  means;  Mr.  A.  H.  Petereit, 
of  New  York  City,  the  well-known  dealer  in 
/  gems  and  gem  minerals,  who  purveys  rarities 
in  this  line  to  collectors  the  world  over,  and 
whose  inventive  genius  is  represented  by  more 
than  twenty-five  patents,  exhibited  to  the  author 
a  "  reconstructed  sapphire  "  which,  tested  merely 
by  a  visual  examination,  rivalled  natural  sap- 
phires, that  of  the  same  colour  and  purity 
would  be  very  costly  gems.  Mr.  Petereit's  pro- 
cess is  secret,  and  he  modestly  claims  suc- 
cess only  to  the  degree  of  producing  stones 
of  a  size  that  will  cut  into  small  gems.  Of 
the  Petereit  sapphires  The  Mineral  Collector 
says: 

We  are  pleased  to  announce  that  the  honour  has 
fallen  to  an  American  to  at  last  manufacture  a 
real  reconstructed  sapphire;  successful  in  hard- 
ness, colour,  brilliancy,  and  transparency.  Efforts 
have  been  made  in  France,  Germany,  and  other 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction     223 

countries  to  successfully  make  blue  sapphires,  and, 
although  they  have  been  successful  up  to  the  cool- 
ing point,  they  always  lost  their  colour  and  became 
gray  when  cool. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Petereit  has  had  a  German  chemist 
working  on  a  formula  of  his  own  for  two  years 
past,  and  has  had  his  efforts  at  last  crowned  with 
success.  At  a  meeting  of  experts  in  the  gem  busi- 
ness the  reconstructed  sapphires  were  placed 
among  the  real  stones  and  they  had  to  admit  they 
were  equal  if  not  superior  to  the  real  gems. 

When  Mr.  Petereit  took  up  the  mineral  business 
his  inventive  mind  was  turned  into  a  new  channel, 
the  manufacture  of  artificial  gems.  Already  stories 
were  being  told  of  great  successes  accomplished  in 
this  line,  but  when  it  came  to  produce  the  stones 
they  failed  in  one  form  or  another;  either  the 
colour  or  hardness  was  wanting. 

The  new  sapphires  he  has  invented  are  perfect  in 
every  way.  The  cannot  be  scratched  by  the  natural 
sapphire,  they  have  a  beautiful  deep  blue  colour, 
their  brilliancy  is  only  equalled  by  the  diamond, 
their  specific  gravity  is  exactly  the  same  as  the 
natural  stone. 

His  success  with  scientific  rubies  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  those  he  handled  were  the  best  in  the 
market.  They  were  made  from  small  natural  stones 
by  a  secret  process  and  not  from  aluminum  and 
other  chemicals,  as  many  now  on  the  market  were. 

The  Deutsche  Goldschmiede  Zeitung,  a  Ger- 
man jewelry  trade  journal,  has  supplemented  an 
article,  from  which  we  quote,  published  upon 


224       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

the  points  of  difference  between  reconstructed 
and  genuine  rubies,  by  presenting  some  addi- 
tional facts,  and  especially  by  reproducing  two 
illustrations  made  from  enlarged  photographs  of 
reconstructed  and  genuine  rubies  supplied  by 
A.  F.  Kotler,  of  St.  Petersburg : 

On  careful  examination,  in  the  case  of  the  arti- 
ficial ruby,  we  notice  at  once  the  typical  concentric 
lines  as  well  as  the  little  bubbles  occurring  in  large 
numbers,  which  are  always  spherical,  having,  in 
other  words,  the  character  of  an  air  bubble  in  a 
melted  mass.  The  concentric  fine  lines,  showing 
variations  in  the  colour,  were  compared  at  the  time 
with  the  circular  or  spiral  lines  that  result  from 
the  string  of  a  paste-like  mass,  leaving  nothing  to 
be  desired  as  far  as  plainness  is  concerned.  A  nat- 
urally formed  genuine  ruby  also  shows  spaces  or 
enclosures,  but  these  are  more  or  less  angular,  be- 
ing bounded  by  crystalline  surfaces,  The  angu- 
larity of  these  voids  is,  moreover,  determined  by 
the  entire  crystalline  structure  of  the  natural 
stone. 

If,  therefore,  in  the  genuine  ruby,  the  colour  is 
unequally  distributed,  the  colour  stripes  invariably 
assume  a  vertical  direction,  are  never  concentric  aa 
in  the  artificial  stone.  We  may  also  frequently 
note  that  the  colour  does  not  run  in  one  direction, 
but  that  colour  stripes,  often  of  varying  intensity, 
cross  one  another  at  obtuse  angles;  in  other 
words,  correspond  strictly  with  the  crystalline 
structure  of  the  grown  stone.  We  may  reiterate 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction     225 

the  assertion  that  in  a  genuine  natural  ruby  con- 
centric lines  are  never  noted.  This  most  important, 
and  at  the  same  time  certain  and  simplest,  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic,  is  the  more  to  be 
regarded,  inasmuch  as  the  specific  gravity,  the 
colour,  the  hardness,  and  the  dichroism — in  other 
words,  all  the  optical  and  chemical  properties — of 
the  artificial  ruby  correspond,  more  or  less,  with 
those  of  the  genuine  stone  and  consequently  the 
scientific  assistance,  in  this  case,  fails  us  entirely. 
An  experienced  gem  expert  will,  moreover,  recognise 
the  genuine  ruby  by  its  peculiar,  characteristic, 
soft,  silky  brilliance,  which  is  lacking  in  all  artificial 
rubies. 

At  the  recent  convention  of  German  jewellers 
in  Heidelberg,  where  the  question  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  so-called  artificial  or  "  scientific " 
precious  stones  was  exhaustively  discussed  and 
a  resolution  expressing  an  attitude  of  opposition 
towards  excessive  advertisement  of  these  pro- 
ductions was  adopted,  Court  Jeweller  Th.  Hei- 
den,  in  the  name  of  the  "  Association  of 
Jewellers,  Gold  and  Silversmiths  of  Bavaria," 
spoke  in  favour  of  hearing  an  opinion  of  a 
prominent  authority  in  regard  to  the  entire 
subject.  According  to  the  Journal  der  Gold- 
schmiedekunst,  this  has  now  been  rendered, 
the  well-known  mineralogist  Prof.  Dr.  Conrad 
Oebbeke,  of  the  technical  high  school  in  Munich, 


226       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

having  expressed  himself  as  follows,  concerning 
artificial  precious  stones: 

Between  the  natural  and  the  artificial  precious 
stones,  the  material  difference  will  always  exist, 
that  one  is  a  natural,  the  other  an  artificial  pro- 
duct. Up  to  the  present  time,  I  have  not  seen  a 
single  artificial  precious  stone  that  could  not  be 
recognised  as  such.  The  claim  that  the  artificial 
stones  are  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  nat- 
ural gems,  that  they  are  absolutely  free  from  de- 
fects, etc.,  according  to  my  experience,  is  not 
justifiable.  Even  if  it  is  possible  to  produce  pre- 
cious stones  having  the  same  crystallographic,  phy- 
sical, and  chemical  properties  as  the  natural 
gems,  they  are  nevertheless  not  equal  in  value  to 
the  natural  product.  No  more  so  than  an  ever  so 
carefully  executed  and  deceptively  similar  copy  of 
a  work  of  art,  a  painting,  a  piece  of  sculpture, 
etc.,  can  be  called  the  original.  The  artificial 
products,  made  in  the  laboratory,  are  not  formed 
under  the  same  conditions  as  the  natural  article, 
and  for  this  reason  we  may  rest  assured  that,  even 
should  the  present  scientific  methods  of  distinguish- 
ing the  genuine  from  the  artificial  precious  stones 
fail,  further  scientific  investigation  will  reveal  a 
method  that  will  make  the  distinction  possible.  In- 
teresting as  may  be  the  success  thus  far  attained 
in  the  production  of  artificial  precious  stones,  and 
while  we  may  congratulate  ourselves  on  the  progress 
made  in  chemical  technics  in  this  direction,  to  the 
connoisseur,  these  articles  will  always  be  artificial 
products  that  can  never  deprive  the  natural  stones 


Imitations  and  Reconstruction    227 

of  their  value.  On  the  contrary  really  beautiful 
natural  precious  stones  will  only  ~be  the  gainer. 
The  claim  that  synthetic  stones  will  ever  break  the 
market  for  real  precious  stones,  is,  in  my  opinion, 
utterly  unfounded. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

FOLK-LORE 

DEGAUSS  of  their  density  and  hardness, 
*— '  gems  are  among  the  most  permanent  of 
substances,  and  yet,  to  a  greater  degree,  per- 
haps, than  any  other  kind  of  property,  their 
value  rests  on  sentiment.  The  associations  of 
gems  in  the  human  mind  are  so  numerous  and 
varied,  that  no  writer  has  ever  attempted  to  as- 
semble all  of  them ;  some  are  well  substantiated 
in  history,  others  only  in  legend;  they  are  iden- 
tified with  many  religions,  but  most  of  them  are 
black  with  superstition,  its  origin  generally  ob- 
scure. This  phase  of  the  general  subject  of 
gems  can  be  properly  covered  under  the  term 
and  title  of  "folk-lore."  The  Bible's  many 
references  to  gems  are  familiar  alike  to  Hebrews 
and  to  all  Christian  readers  of  Holy  Writ.  Be- 
sides the  scattered  references  and  metaphorical 
use  of  the  names  of  gems,  the  Bible  contains 
three  lists  of  precious  stones.  The  first  is  an 
account  of  the  jewels  on  the  ephod,  or  short 


Folk-Lore  229 

two-piece  coat  of  Aaron,  the  Jewish  High  Priest, 
to  the  front  of  which  was  attached  the  sacerdotal 
breastplate.  The  front  and  back  parts  of  this 
coat  were  united  at  each  shoulder  with  an 
onyx  mounted  in  gold  and  engraved  with  the 
names  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  six  on  each  stone, 
in  memory  of  the  promise  made  by  the  Lord 
to  them.  (Exodus  xxviii.,  6,  12,  29.)  The 
breastplate  was  made  of  the  same  material  as 
the  epliod,  and  folded  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of 
pouch  in  which  the  Urim  and  Thummim  (Light 
and  Perfection — according  to  one  version)  were 
placed.  (Exodus  xxxix.,  9.)  The  external  part 
of  this  gorget,  or  "  breastplate  of  judgment," 
was  set  with  four  rows  of  gems,  three  in  each 
row,  each  stone  set  in  a  golden  socket  and  hav- 
ing engraved  upon  it  the  name  of  one  of  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  (Exodus  xxviii.,  17-20.) 
The  names  of  these  stones,  taken  from  Biblical 
antiquities  by  Adler  and  Casanowicz,  and  writ- 
ten for  the  Report  of  the  United  States  National 
Museum,  for  1896,  page  943,  are  given  as  in  the 
original  and  in  the  Septuagint,  together  with 
the  meaning  agreed  upon  by  most  authorities. 
The  rendering  of  the  Kevised  Version,  both  in 
text  and  margins,  is  added  in  parentheses,  the 
list  being  as  follows:  1.  Odem  (sardion),  car- 


230       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

nelian  (sardius,  ruby).  2.  Pitdah  (topazion), 
topaz  or  peridot.  3.  Bareketh  (smaragdos) , 
smaragd  or  emerald  (carbuncle  emerald).  4. 
Nofek  (anthrax),  carbuncle,  probably  the  Indian 
ruby  (ruby,  carbuncle).  5.  Sappir  (sap- 
feiros),  sapphire  or  lapis  lazuli  (sapphire). 
6.  Yahalom  (jaspis),  onyx,  a  kind  of  chalcedon 
(diamond,  sardonyx).  7.  Leshem  (ligyrion), 
jacinth,  others  sapphire  (jacinth,  amber).  8. 
Shebo  (achates)  agate.  9.  Achlama  (ame- 
thystos),  amethyst.  10.  Tarshish  (chryso- 
lithos),  chrysolite,  others  topaz  (beryl,  chalce- 
dony). 11.  Shoham  (beryllion),  beryl  (onyx, 
beryl).  12.  Yashpeh  (onychion),  jasper. 

It  should  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  in 
many  instances  the  equivalent  of  the  Biblical 
names  of  gems  is  uncertain  in  the  nomenclature 
of  modern  mineralogy,  therefore  there  are  sev- 
eral lists  of  names  given  for  the  stones  in  the 
breastplate.  There  is  an  ancient  silver  breast- 
plate employed  as  an  ornament  for  the  MS. 
copy  of  the  Torah,  or  Pentateuch,  used  in  an 
ancient  synagogue,  preserved  in  the  Division  of 
Oriental  Religions  in  the  United  States  National 
Museum.  According  to  this  exhibit  the  twelve 
stones,  with  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes,  are 
as  follows:  Garnet,  Levi;  diamond,  Zebulon; 


Folk-Lore  231 

amethyst,  Gad;  jasper,  Benjamin;  chrysolite, 
Simeon;  sapphire,  Issachar;  agate,  Naphthali; 
onyx,  Joseph;  sard,  Reuben;  emerald,  Judah; 
topaz,  Dan ;  beryl,  Asher. 

Then  there  is  a  list  given  in  the  description 
of  the  ornaments  of  the  Prince  of  Tyrus  (Eze- 
kiel  xxviii.,  13)  :  1,  Odem;  2,  Pitdah;  3,  Yaha- 
lom;  4,  Tarshish;  5,  Shoham;  6,  Tashpeh;  7, 
Sappir;  8,  Nofek;  9,  Bareketh. 

In  the  description  of  the  Heavenly  City, 
(Revelations  xxi.,  19,  20),  another  list  is  given; 
in  this  list,  which  follows,  the  word  used  in  the 
original,  or  Septuagint,  is  followed  by  the  ren- 
dering given  by  most  authorities,  that  of  the 
Revised  Version  in  parentheses:  1,  Jaspis, 
jasper;  2,  Sapfeiros,  sapphire  or  lapis  lazuli; 
3,  Chalkedon,  chalcedony;  4,  Smaragdos,  sma- 
ragd  (emerald) ;  5,  Sardonyx,  sardonyx;  6,  Sar- 
dios,  sardius;  7,  Chrysolithos,  chrysolite;  8, 
Beryllos,  beryl;  9,  Topazion,  topaz;  10,  Cliryso- 
prasos,  chrysoprase;  11,  Hyakinthos,  jacinth 
(sapphire)  ;  12,  Amethystos,  amethyst. 

Other  references  to  gems  in  the  Bible  indi- 
cate the  diamond  as  sliamir,  amber  as  hashmal, 
and  crystal  (quartz)  as  gerali  and  gabish,  ame- 
thyst as  ahlamah,  and  it  is  thought  that  the 
pearl  is  meant  by  the  Hebrew  word  peninim,  a 


232       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

word  used  several  times  in  both  tlie  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  a  metaphor  for  something 
valuable  and  precious. 

Many  and  various  powers  have  been  ascribed 
by  man  to  gems;  powers  curative,  talismanic, 
and  supernatural  (the  word  lithomancy  mean- 
ing divination  by  stones) ;  some  gems  could  be 
made  prophetic,  others  revealed  the  past;  in  the 
realm  of  medicine  some  were  prophylactic  and 
most  of  them  were  believed  to  be  potent  reme- 
dies. The  latter  superstition  is  hard  to  kill  in 
the  slow  dissemination  of  science,  and  survives 
to-day,  even  in  civilised  and  Christian  countries. 
Some  gems  were  believed  to  possess  the  virtue 
of  procuring  the  favour  of  the  wise  or  great 
for  their  owners,  some  were  supposed  to  invest 
their  possessors  with  wisdom,  strength,  or  cour- 
age, and  some  were  shields  against  danger,  dis- 
ease, and  death.  Gems  were  connected  with 
astrology,  and  exerted  an  influence  for  good  or 
for  evil  through  the  planetary  influence  of  cer- 
tain days.  White  stones,  the  diamond  excepted, 
were  to  be  worn  on  Monday;  Tuesday — the  day 
of  Mars — was  elected  for  garnets,  rubies,  and 
other  red  stones;  Thursday  was  for  amethysts; 
Friday — the' day  of  Venus — owned  the  emerald; 
Saturday — Saturn's  day — claimed  the  diamond; 


Folk-Lore  233 

while  the  topaz  and  yellow  gems  were  ap- 
propriate to  Sunday. 

Particular  gems  were  influential  during  cer- 
tain months,  and,  under  the  proper  astrological 
control,  were  supposed  to  have  a  mystical  in- 
fluence over  the  twelve  parts  of  the  human 
anatomy.  The  potency  of  a  gem  worn  with 
regard  to  this  belief  was  increased  if  the  natal 
day  of  the  wearer  corresponded  with  its  partic- 
ular sign,  and  when  worn  as  a  birth  or  month 
stone  was  supposed  to  attract  propitious  in- 
fluences and  ward  off  evil.  Gems  to  which  were 
ascribed  zodiacal  control,  and  their  periods  of 
influence,  follow: 

Garnet,  Aquarius;  January  21st  to  February 
21st.  Amethyst,  Pisces;  February  21st  to 
March  21st.  Bloodstone,  Aries;  March  21st  to 
April  20th.  Sapphire,  Taurus;  April  20th  to 
May  21st.  Agate,  Gemini;  May  21st  to  June 
21st.  Emerald,  Cancer;  June  21st  to  July  22d. 
Onyx,  Leo ;  July  22d  to  August  22d.  Carnelian, 
Virgo ;  August  22d  to  September  22d.  Chrysolite, 
Libra ;  September  22d  to  October  23d.  Aquama- 
rine, Scorpio;  October  23d  to  November  21st. 
Topaz,  Saggitarius ;  November  21st  to  December 
21st.  Kuby,  Capricorn;  December  21st  to  Jan- 
uary 21st. 


234       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

An  idea  somewhat  similar  was  that  of  the 
Jewish  cabalists,  which  accorded  to  twelve  gem 
stones,  when  each  was  engraved  with  an  ana- 
gram of  the  name  of  God,  a  mystical  influence 
with,  and  a  prohetical  relation  to,  the  twelve 
angels,  as  follows:  ruby,  Malchediel;  topaz, 
Asmodel;  carbuncle  (garnet),  Ambriel;  em- 
erald, Muriel;  sapphire,  Herchel;  diamond, 
Humatiel;  jacinth,  Zuriel;  agate,  Barbiel;  ame- 
thyst, Adnachiel;  beryl,  Humiel;  onyx,  Gabriel; 
jasper,  Barchiel. 

The  Twelve  Apostles  were  symbolically  repre- 
sented by  precious  stones:  St.  Peter,  jasper; 
St.  Andrew,  sapphire;  St.  James,  chalcedony; 
St.  John,  emerald;  St.  Philip,  sardonyx;  St. 
Matthew,  amethyst;  St.  Thomas,  beryl;  St. 
Thaddeus,  chrysoprase;  St.  James  the  Less, 
topaz;  St.  Simeon,  hyacinth;  St.  Matthias, 
chrysolite;  St.  Bartholomew,  carnelian. 

While  there  are  variations,  the  generally  ac- 
cepted list  of  "  birthstones  "  is : 

January,  garnet;  February,  amethyst;  March, 
bloodstone;  April,  sapphire;  May,  emerald; 
June,  agate;  July,  ruby;  August,  sardonyx; 
September,  chrysolite;  October,  opal;  November, 
topaz;  December,  turquoise. 

A  suggestion  of  the  superstitions  which  have 


Folk-Lore  235 

invested  gems  with  supernatural  qualities  fol- 
lows : 

Agate. — Emblem  of  health  and  wealth;  inimi- 
cal to  venomous  things;  alleviates  thirst;  gains 
victory  for  its  possessor;  stays  storms;  sharpens 
sight;  increases  strength;  and — a  quality  that 
should  make  it  welcome  to  orators  and  lecturers 
— renders  its  wearers  gracious  and  eloquent. 
The  Mohammedans  believed  it  would  cure  in- 
sanity when  powdered  and  administered  with 
water  or  apple  juice. 

Pierre  de  Boniface,  writing  in  1315,  said: 

"  The  agate  of  India  or  Crete  renders  its 
possessor  eloquent  and  prudent,  amiable  and 
agreeable." 

Dioscorides,  in  his  Materia  Medica,  prescribes 
agate  as  a  preventive  of  contagion. 

Amber  was  believed  to  be  good  for  stomach- 
ache, fits,  scrofula,  and  jaundice.  The  amethyst 
— emblematic  of  sincerity — lost  its  colour  in  con- 
tact with  poisons,  and  was  an  antidote  for  them. 
It  dispelled  sleep,  sharpened  the  wits,  and  pro- 
moted chastity;  while  being  a  sure  preventive 
of  intoxication.  Beryl  was  the  favourite  stone 
for  divination;  reinforced  with  potent  incanta- 
tions, it  foretold  the  future  and  reviewed  the 
past.  The  bloodstone,  if  rubbed  with  the  juice 


236       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

of  the  heliotrope,  rendered  its  wearer  invisible; 
it  was  also  a  specific  for  dyspepsia.  Carnelian 
cured  tumors,  cleared  the  voice,  and  preserved 
harmony;  it  also  stopped  bleeding  at  the  nose. 
Cat's-eye  cured  croup  and  colic — it  should  thus 
be  highly  favoured  as  a  stone  to  be  mounted  in 
infant's  rings.  Chalcedony  prevented  and  cured 
melancholy;  worn  in  contact  with  the  hairs  of 
an  ass  it  prevented  danger  during  tempests. 
Chrysoberyl  alleviated  asthma.  Chrysoprase 
was  good  for  gout.  Coral  was  a  fever  cure,  and 
has  had  innumerable  curative  and  preventive 
qualities  ascribed  to  it.  The  qualities  ascribed 
to  the  diamond  included  the  power  of  curing 
insanity;  powdered  it  was  an  excellent  denti- 
frice and  it  cured  epilepsy.  In  Burma,  and  in 
the  Middle  Ages  in  Europe,  the  diamond  was 
supposed  to  be  a  poison  akin  to  arsenic.  The 
emerald  stopped  hemorrhages;  it  was  cooling 
in  fevers  and  used  to  strengthen  and  preserve 
the  eyes.  The  garnet  averted  plague  and  was 
a  defence  against  thunder,  before  lightning  was 
known  to  be  the  agent  of  destruction.  Jade 
everywhere  and  always  has  rested  strong  in 
superstition  as  a  cure  for  diseases  of  the  kid- 
neys. Jasper  was  good  for  lung  troubles,  was 
a  charm  against  scorpions  and  spiders,  and 


Folk-Lore  237 

would  save  its  wearer  from  drowning.  Jet 
cured  snake  bites.  Lapis-lazuli  cured  bilious- 
ness. Onyx  caused  nightmare.  Opal  was  used 
as  an  eyestone  and  heart-stimulant.  The  pearl 
cured  stomach  troubles  and  skin  diseases. 
Quartz,  even  to-day,  and  in  the  United  States, 
is  invested  with  medicinal  and  supernatural 
qualties  that  hold  the  firm  faith  of  many  persons, 
especially  in  remote  country  places.  A  "vital 
ore,"  which  is  merely  quartz  sand,  has  a  vogue 
in  some  sections  of  northern  New  York  State — 
according  to  Wirt  Tassin — as  a  panacea;  is 
particularly  advocated  for  sore  eyes,  hemor- 
rhoids, carbuncles,  indigestion,  sore  throat,  gid- 
diness, and  blood  poisoning.  Quartz  balls  are 
and  have  been  used  with  great  profit  by  mystics, 
astrologers,  diviners,  and  other  like  fakirs,  to 
foretell  the  future,  disclose  the  past,  and  con- 
jure up  distant  scenes.  The  ruby  is  an  amulet 
against  plague,  poison,  sadness,  and  sensuality; 
its  corundum  congener,  the  sapphire,  if  placed  on 
the  heart,  imparts  strength  and  energy;  it  also 
cures  boils,  carbuncles,  headache,  and  cramps. 
Topaz  averts  sudden  death.  The  wearer  of  a 
turquoise  will  require  no  accident  insurance, 
the  stone  having  that  power.  Zircon  stimulates 
the  appetite,  aids  digestion,  and  takes  away  sin. 


238       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

In  India  the  mystics  of  that  occult  land  be- 
lieve in  the  virtues  and  malign  influences  of 
precious  stones;  the  modern  Western  spiritual- 
ists, who  draw  upon  the  Oriental  treasure-house 
of  occultism,  are  said  to  give  credit  to  gems  for 
mystical  properties  and  influences.  A  school  in 
Paris  teaches  a  "science"  of  magnetic  emana- 
tions, radiance,  and  crystals,  and  a  Dr.  de 
Lignieres  of  Nice,  France,  is  the  author  of  a 
book,  in  which  he  seriously  considers  the  medi- 
cinal properties  and  influences  of  precious 
stones. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

FAVOURITE  GEMS  OF  DISTINGUISHED  PEOPLE 

OENTIMENT  occupies  a  high  place  in  the 
^  values  of  gems,  and  it  has  been,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  created  by  the  historical  or 
traditional  association  of  different  gems  with 
royal  personages  and  people  otherwise  famous; 
the  favour  of  the  great  has  sometimes  had  an 
important  effect  upon  the  market  value  of  pre- 
cious stones,  and  in  some  cases  good  or  ill 
fortune  has  passed  with  gems  from  one  possessor 
to  another,  until  to  the  inanimate  jewel  has 
attached  the  credit  or  discredit  of  causing  re- 
markable human  experiences,  and  the  stone  has 
acquired  the  attribute  of  lucky  or  unlucky.  The 
diamond  fills  the  leading  role  in  this  historical 
and  legendary  drama  of  the  gems,  and  a  full 
account  of  all  pertaining  to  it  that  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that  is  extant  in  print,  might  suffice  for 
a  volume  of  considerable  interest. 

Charlemagne  fastened  his  mantle  with  a  clasp 
set  with  diamonds;  these  historic  stones  illus- 
239 


240       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

trate  the  crude  efforts  of  the  lapidaries  of  their 
time,  the  natural  planes  of  the  octahedron  being 
only  partly  polished. 

Louis  Duke  of  Anjou  possessed  a  regal  array 
of  jewels;  in  an  inventory  of  his  gems  exhibited 
1360-1368  was  a  description  of  eight  diamonds 
which  showed  some  skill  on  the  part  of  their 
cutters. 

When  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  in  1407,  gave 
a  magnificent  banquet  to  the  King  of  France 
and  his  Court,  the  noble  guests  received  as 
souvenirs  of  the  entertainment  eleven  dia- 
monds, cut  with  as  much  skill  as  the  art  of 
that  day  was  capable  of,  and  set  in  gold. 

Pope  Sixtus  IV.  was  the  recipient  of  the 
second  diamond  sent  to  be  cut,  in  1475,  by 
Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  to  Louis 
de  Berquem  of  Bruges — regarded  by  his  con- 
temporaries as  the  father  of  diamond-cutting. 
The  first  of  the  trio  of  famous  stones  is  said 
to  have  been  the  historic  "  Beau  Sancy  " ;  the 
third  diamond  was  presented  to  Louis  XI.  of 
France. 

"  The  Twelve  Mazarins "  were  the  twelve 
thickest  diamonds  of  the  French  crown  jewels, 
ordered  by  Cardinal  Mazarin  to  be  recut  by 
Parisian  cutters. 


Gems  of  Distinguished  People    241 

Pope  Julius  II.,  in  1500,  owned  a  diamond  on 
which  was  engraved  the  figure  of  a  friar  by  one 
Ambrosius  Caradossa;  this  is  one  of  the  few 
noted  examples  of  diamond  sculpture. 

The  first  French  woman  to  lead  fashion  as 
a  wearer  of  diamonds  for  personal  ornaments 
is  said  to  have  been  Agnes  Sorrel,  famous  in 
the  time  of  Charles  VII.  Subsequently,  under 
Francis  I.,  extravagance  in  this  particular 
in  French  society  reached  its  climax,  and 
the  Luxus  or  Sumptuary  Laws,  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  IX.  and  Henry  IV.,  were  drafted  to 
repress  this  form  of  extravagance. 

The  late  Earl  Dudley  owned  one  of  the  sev- 
eral large  and  world-famous  diamonds  emanating 
from  the  diamond  mines  of  South  Africa;  this 
stone  was  first  famous  as  "  The  Star  of  South 
Africa  " ;  it  was  then  the  size  of  a  small  walnut, 
when  in  the  rough,  and  weighed  83~y2  carats; 
cutting  reduced  it  to  46^/2  carats. 

The  melodrama  of  gem  history  is  contributed 
to  by  the  record  of  Mohammed  Ghori,  the  real 
founder  of  the  Mohammedan  dominion  in  In- 
dia, whose  death  discovered  in  his  treasury 
precious  stones  weighing  four  hundred  pounds, 
including  a  great  number  of  diamonds  of  vast 
but  inestimable  value;  this  hoard  of  mineral 


242       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

wealth,  this  enterprising  disciple  of  Mahomet,  it 
is  said,  acquired  exclusively  by  plunder. 

The  famous  "  Eugenie "  diamond  purchased 
by  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  Napoleon  III., 
was  found  by  a  poor  peasant  at  Wajra  Karur 
in  India;  the  finder  tendered  the  stone  to  the 
village  blacksmith  as  compensation  for  repair- 
ing a  plough ;  the  smith  threw  it  away,  but  upon 
reconsidering  its  possibilities  recovered  it  and 
sold  it  for  6000  rupees  to  a  merchant  named 
Arathoon  of  Madras,  who  sold  it  to  the  French 
emperor  for  a  great  sum. 

Sefior  S.  I.  Habid,  a  wealthy  Spaniard  of  the 
rue  Lafltte,  Paris,  proprietor  of  a  collection  of 
rare  gems,  is,  according  to  information  pub- 
lished in  European  and  American  newspapers 
during  the  spring  of  1908,  the  possessor  of  the 
famous  blue  "  Hope  "  diamond.  For  some  time 
this  celebrated  stone  was  owned  in  America, 
the  possessors  being  the  firm  of  jewellers  in  New 
York  City,  Messrs.  Joseph  FrankePs  Sons.  The 
American  owners  admitted  the  sale  of  the  stone 
in  Paris,  but  declined  to  divulge  the  facts  as  to 
the  price  or  the  identity  of  the  purchaser,  stat- 
ing that  the  information,  if  made  public,  must 
come  from  the  purchaser.  The  Sultan  of  Tur- 
key was  for  a  time  the  reputed  buyer.  Mr. 


Gems  of  Distinguished  People    243 

Edwin  W.  Streeter,  who,  partly  by  virtue  of  his 
authorship  of  The  Great  Diamonds  of  the  World, 
is  entitled  to  the  distinction  of  the  expert  on 
this  phase  of  precious  stones,  in  his  book  Pre- 
cious Stones  and  Gems,  in  a  chapter  entitled 
"  Coloured  Diamonds,"  traces  a  complete  his- 
tory of  the  "  Hope  "  blue  diamond.  This  author 
is  inclined  to  identify  this  stone  as  a  part  of 
a  blue  diamond,  bought  in  1642  by  Tavern ier, 
the  famous  traveller  and  gem  buyer,  supposed 
to  have  been  found  in  the  old  Indian  mines, 
probably  those  of  Gani-Color.  It  weighed  in 
the  rough  112^4  carats;  and  in  1668  it  was  sold 
to  Louis  XIV.  The  present  name  of  this  dia- 
mond is  derived  from  that  of  Mr.  Henry  Thomas 
Hope,  a  London  banker,  who  bought  it  in  1830 
for  the  equivalent  in  currency  of  the  United 
States  of  about  f  85,000. 

Among  the  notable  coloured  diamonds  is  the 
"  Dresden  green  diamond,"  a  fine  flawless  stone, 
of  a  bright  apple-green  colour.  It  is  in  the 
famous  "  Green  Vaults "  of  Dresden,  and  has 
belonged  to  the  Saxon  crown  since  1753.  Au- 
gustus the  Strong  paid  |60,000  for  it.  Forty 
carats  is  its  weight. 

Another  famous  forty-carat  stone  is  the 
"  Polar  Star,"  a  pure  and  brilliant  diamond,  the 


244        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

property  of  the  Princess  Yassopouff;  it  was 
purchased,  prior  to  its  present  ownership,  t>y 
the  Emperor  Paul  of  Russia  for  a  large  sum. 

The  Shah  of  Persia,  whose  reign  has  been 
lately  troubled  by  revolting  radicals  in  his  do- 
main, may  find  consolation  in  the  possession  of 
a  vast  treasure  of  jewels  rare.  These  include 
two  magnificent  rose-cut  stones,  the  "  Darya- 
i-nur,"  or  "  Sea  of  Light,"  which  weighs  186 
carats,  and  the  "  Taj-e-mah,"  or  "  Crown  of  the 
Moon,"  weighing  146  carats. 

The  women  sovereigns  of  Austria,  beginning 
with  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa,  have  had  the 
proud  privilege  of  displaying  among  the  crown 
jewels  of  the  royal  house  of  Austria  the 
famous  "  Florentine "  diamond,  also  known  as 
the  "  Austrian  Yellow "  and  the  "  Tuscan " 
diamond.  This  illustrious  citron-yellow  stone 
weighs  ISO1/^  carats  and  is  cut  into  a  nine-rayed 
star  of  the  rose  form.  The  "  Florentine  "  was 
formerly  owned  by  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

GEM  MINERALS  AND  GEMS  IN  MUSEUM  COLLECTIONS 

\ /ISUAL  and  palpable  examination  of  gems 
*  and  gem  minerals  is  most  desirable,  if  one 
would  have  a  thorough  understanding  of  gem- 
ology,  for  all  that  the  best  of  books  can  teach  must 
necessarily  be,  to  a  considerable  extent,  abstract. 
Fortunately  for  those  who  abide  or  sojourn 
near  enough  to  take  advantage  of  them,  there 
are  several  public  museums  in  America  which 
possess  collections  of  minerals,  including  gem 
minerals,  and  in  New  York  City  the  great  edu- 
cational institution,  The  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  has,  in  addition,  a  fine  collec- 
tion of  cut  gems,  principally  the  gift  of  Mr. 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  which  is  a  delight  to  the 
eye  of  every  visitor  who  sees  it.  While  one  can- 
not handle  the  minerals  in  such  collections,  and 
thus  prove  the  statements  made  in  this  book 
and  other  publications,  that  gems  are  cold  and 
that  some  feel  greasy  or  have  other  qualities 
determined  by  the  tactile  sense,  they  are  free 
245 


246       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

for  all  to  study  optically,  and  so  plain  and 
practical  is  their  scientific  and  common-sense 
arrangement,  that  the  appreciative  student  must 
feel  in  his  heart  a  great  sense  of  thankfulness, 
not  only  to  the  generous  men  of  wealth,  who  by 
gifts  and  endowments  have  created  this  magnifi- 
cent institution,  but  also  to  the  curators  who 
have  by  their  arrangements  in  exhibiting  and 
labelling,  with  the  auxiliaries  of  "  rubrics  "  and 
guides  and  other  publications,  made  the  study 
of  these  representative  specimens  of  minerals  so 
easy  that  it  might  almost  be  said  that  "  he  who 
runs  may  read."  The  students  of  gems  in  New 
York  owe  to  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Morgan  the 
two  large  Tiffany  exhibits  of  precious  stones 
which  were  prepared  by  Tiffany  &  Co.,  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  George  Frederic  Kunz,  and 
exhibited,  with  distinction  and  credit,  at  the 
Universal  Expositions  of  1889  and  1900  at 
Paris.  These  two  collections  are  now  incor- 
porated in  the  general  exhibit  of  gems  in  the 
Gem  Koom  at  the  museum.  In  connection  with 
these  exhibits,  and  as  a  recognition  of  his  public 
services  in  behalf  of  art  and  science,  Mr.  Mor- 
gan was  made  by  the  French  Republic  Officier 
de  Legion  d'Honneur.  Mr.  Morgan  also  pre- 
sented to  the  museum  the  superb  mineralogical 


Gem  Minerals  in  Museums       247 

collection  of  Mr.  Clarence  S.  Bement,  of  Phila- 
delphia, which  has  for  years  stood  foremost 
among  American  cabinets,  and  vies  (especially 
in  the  matter  of  American  minerals)  with  the 
great  collections  of  the  world.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  is  interesting  and  appropriate  to  record 
the  generous  gift  of  Mrs.  Matilda  W.  Bruce  of 
New  York  City,  who  created  the  Bruce  Fund; 
this  is  an  endowment,  of  the  sum  of  ten  thou- 
sand dollars,  of  the  Department  of  Mineralogy 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
which  yields  an  annual  income  of  f  660,  which  is 
applied  to  the  purchase  of  specimens.  The  de- 
velopment of  minerals  is  the  slowest  growth  in 
the  scheme  of  creation,  but  it  is  a  satisfaction 
to  know  that  in  the  American  Museum  of  Nat- 
ural History,  as  in  other  "  live  "  kindred  insti- 
tutions, the  collection  of  minerals  develops  and 
improves  rapidly,  as  is  well  known  to  those  who 
have  solicitously  kept  pace  with  it  year  by  year. 
For  the  student  who  would  go  deeper  than  to 
the  extent  of  a  mere  fancy,  there  exist  associa- 
tions most  helpful  and  interesting,  of  which  the 
student  can  be  the  beneficiary  and  a  member 
at  very  slight  cost;  such  as  the  New  York 
Mineralogical  Club  and  the  Philadelphia  Min- 
eralogical  Club,  which  hold  educative  meet- 


248       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

ings  where  the  members  read  papers  and  in 
many  ways  contribute  information,  and  which 
make  field  study  trips  to  localities  known  to  be 
productive  of  specimens  of  interest.  All  who 
visit  the  collections  at  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History  should  obtain  Guide  Leaflet 
No.  4  for  the  Collection  of  Minerals  (which  is  a 
supplement  to  the  American  Museum  Journal), 
written  by  Louis  P.  Gratacap,  A.M.,  Curator, 
Department  of  Mineralogy,  of  the  museum.  For 
more  extensive  information  applicable  to  this 
collection  and  institution,  and  to  similar  ones, 
a  most  profitable  investment  would  be  the  book 
by  the  same  author,  A  Vade  Mecum  Guide  to 
Mineral  Collections,  with  a  Chapter  on  the  De- 
velopment of  Mineralogy,  with  enlightening  half- 
tone illustrations  and  over  two  hundred  figures 
of  crystals.  There  are  also  periodical  publica- 
tions devoted  entirely  or  in  part  to  mineralogy. 
The  growth  of  the  mineral  collection  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History  has  been 
gradual,  beginning  with  the  Bailey  collection, 
which  served  as  an  introductory  and  fairly  repre- 
sentative series  of  specimens.  A  valuable  acces- 
sion was  the  most  remarkable  group  of  specimens 
of  malachite  and  azurite  donated  by  the  Copper 
Queen  Consolidated  Mining  Company  of  Ari- 


Gem  Minerals  in  Museums        249 

zona,  which,  with  subsequent  additions  from  the 
same  donor,  is  the  most  striking  feature  of  the 
whole  collection;  it  is  assembled  and  installed 
in  a  single  case  at  the  north  end  of  the  small 
hall.  After  this  invaluable  acquisition  of  the 
green  and  blue  carbonates  of  copper  from  Ari- 
zona, the  Spang  collection  was  purchased  in  the 
year  1891,  which  doubled  the  number  of  spe- 
cimens possessed  by  the  museum,  and  added 
many  new  varieties  and  kinds  of  minerals.  In 
the  nine  years  that  followed  many  valuable  ad- 
ditions came  from  generous  benefactors,  and  in 
1900  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  purchased  and 
presented  to  the  museum  the  remarkable  collec- 
tion assembled  by  Mr.  Clarence  S.  Dement  of 
Philadelphia,  characterised  by  the  collector's  su- 
perior scientific  judgment  and  exquisite  taste 
— which  evolved  from  the  field  of  specimens 
available  throughout  the  world  a  great  variety 
of  forms  representing  the  commoner  minerals — 
and  the  exceptional  perfection  of  the  specimens. 
While  the  rock-bottom  upon  which  modern 
mineralogy  is  founded  is  chemical  law,  it  might 
be  said  that  crystallography  is  its  foundation, 
so  that  minerals  of  the  same  chemical  type  are 
grouped  together,  in  the  modern  scheme  of  ex- 
hibition; and,  under  that  type,  minerals  of 


250       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

similar  physical  or  crystallographic  features 
are  arranged  in  smaller  subdivisions.  To  quote 
Professor  Gratacap: 

The  forms  of  minerals  are  their  most  obvious 
characteristic.  The  six-sided  prisms  of  quartz  and 
beryl  crystals,  the  rhomboidal  or  trapezoidal  faces 
of  garnet,  the  triangular  faces  of  magnetite  and 
the  square  faces  of  fluorite  are  unmistakable. 

The  branch  of  mineral  science  known  as  crys- 
tallography is  now  well  developed  and  estab- 
lished, and  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
crystal  form  has  a  close  dependence  upon  chem- 
ical composition.  The  arrangement  of  all  speci- 
mens at  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  in  both  desk  and  wall  cases,  is  exemp- 
larily  systematic,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
classification  of  the  sixth  edition  of  Dana's 
System  of  Mineralogy.  An  intelligent  inspec- 
tion of  the  collection  at  this  museum,  for  the 
novice  in  mineralogy,  should  begin  with  desk 
case  No.  28,  followed  by  case  No.  27;  these  two 
cases  contain  introductory  series  presenting  the 
chemical  and  physical  features  of  minerals,  to- 
gether with  explanatory  tables  and  photographs. 
The  models  showing  the  formation  of  crystals  are 
ingenious  in  design  and  excellent  in  construction, 
and  illustrate  the  crystallographic  system  to  the 


Gem  Minerals  in  Museums       251 

novice  clearly  and  as  no  other  device  possibly 
could  do.  Visitors  to  the  museum  who  are  in 
the  jewelry  trade  are  likely  to  view  with  par- 
ticular interest  the  choice  specimens  of  gold  ex- 
hibited in  desk  case  No.  1,  where  it  appears  in 
sheets  like  rolled  metal;  in  plates,  with  crystal- 
lised edges;  in  braided  filaments  made  up  of 
minute  octahedrons  with  hollow  faces;  in  twisted 
plates  frequently  attached  to  quartz,  around 
which  it  curls  like  some  irregular  yellow  flower; 
besides  which  there  are  cavernous,  skeleton,  and 
pitted  crystals;  peculiar  distortions;  reticulated 
and  tree-shaped  groups  with  spongy  masses; 
and  rounded  water-worn  nuggets.  Case  No.  27 
also  contains  the  fine  collection  of  the  New  York 
Mineralogical  Club  of  specimens  of  minerals 
occurring  on  Manhattan  Island ;  these  include 
garnets,  zircon,  and  tourmalines  and  a  few  other 
gem  minerals,  although  not  all  of  gem  quality. 

In  the  south  end  of  the  small  hall  is  the 
collection  of  gems  which,  while  it  is  not  as 
broadly  representative  of  the  semi-precious 
stones  as  it  could  be,  provides  an  ocular  demon- 
stration of  the  appearance  of  typical  gem 
minerals  of  good  colour  and  qualities,  advan- 
tageously cut.  A  brief  visit  to  this  collection, 
as  a  supplement  to  the  study  of  gems  through 


252        A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

books,  will  provide  a  practical  lesson  that  will 
clearly  illustrate  the  written  descriptions  of  pre- 
cious stones,  and  leave  a  mental  picture  that  is 
likely  to  be  lasting. 


BROOCH,   FESTOON,   RING,   AND  EARRING  ;  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDENTS 
AND  JEWELLERS 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

OUR   DIAMOND   CUTTERS   AND   THEIR  TRADE   UNION 

HTHE  trade  of  diamond-cutting  presents  many 
*  points  of  interest,  beginning  with  the  high 
intrinsic  value  of  the  raw  material  entrusted 
to  these  workmen,  upon  whom  their  employers 
must  rely  for  absolute  honesty,  rare  skill,  and 
the  best  of  judgment.  The  diamond  cutters  in 
North  America  are  not  a  great  power  numeri- 
cally in  the  world  of  labour,  but  their  labour 
union  is  in  some  respects  one  of  the  strongest 
of  such  organisations. 

Peter  Goos,  the  first  diamond  polisher  to  settle 
in  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  Holland,  arrived  there 
in  1588.  In  time  the  mere  bruting  or  polishing 
of  diamonds  in  Holland  was  succeeded  by  scien- 
tific cutting  on  geometrical  lines  and  the  ar- 
tisans employed  in  the  work  and  their  processes 
were  evolved  into  a  distinct  and  recognised  in- 
dustry. In  the  year  1815  the  leading  diamond 
cutters  of  Holland  convened,  declared  them- 
selves "  masters,"  decided  to  employ,  to  begin 
253 


254       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

with,  a  score  of  apprentices,  and  organised 
diamond-cutting  into  a  full-fledged  trade.  The 
foundations  being  thus  laid,  the  trade  flourished 
until  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  it  apparently  was  obliterated  as  one  of 
the  effects  of  war,  chiefly  the  Civil  War  in  the 
United  State  and  the  Franco-Prussian  War  in 
Europe.  When  the  first  diamond  mines  were 
discovered  in  1870  in  South  Africa,  the  demand 
for  diamonds  rose,  and  diamond  cutters  were 
once  more  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch, 
English,  and  French  importers,  and  almost  any 
one  who  wished  was  given  an  opportunity  to 
learn  the  trade,  which  had  been  so  long  asleep. 
The  trade  in  diamonds  then  rapidly  developed 
annually;  improved  steam  navigation  and  other 
scientific  progress  provided  better  facilities  for 
exporting  and  importing  gems,  and  there  were 
established  many  new  factories  for  cutting  and 
polishing  diamonds  in  the  city  of  Amsterdam,, 
until  the  entire  industry  centred  in  Holland's 
capital.  Amsterdam  only  secured  the  lead  as 
the  Diamond  City  after  a  keen  commercial  and 
industrial  rivalry  with  Antwerp,  a  contest  that 
was  waged,  with  varying  fortunes,  for  many 
years.  The  workmanship  of  the  diamond  cutters 
and  polishers  of  the  Amsterdam  factories  is  first 


SUGGESTIONS  FOB  STUDENTS  AND  JEWELLERS 


Diamond  Cutters'  Trade  Union    255 

class  and  the  standard  for  the  trade  throughout 
the  world. 

The  diamond  cutters'  union  of  Amsterdam  is 
a  trade  union  of  unique  solidarity,  which  has 
been  tried  by  the  fire  of  many  industrial  dis- 
putes and  trials,  particularly  during  dull  times 
when  but  a  portion  of  the  members  could  find 
employment.  There  are  at  the  present  time 
eighty-five  hundred  workmen,  all  members  of 
the  union,  in  Amsterdam,  distributed  among 
some  eighty  factories.  The  Amsterdam  union  is 
governed  by  salaried  officers,  who  are  elected  by 
the  whole  body.  These  officers  are:  president, 
secretary,  treasurer,  and  second  treasurer; 
also  an  inspector  of  wages,  whose  function  and 
duty  it  is  to  investigate  and  report  upon  any 
violation  of  a  wage  agreement  he  may  discover. 
The  union  publishes  a  weekly  journal,  edited 
by  the  union's  president;  this  journal  is  re- 
garded by  the  members  of  the  union  as  the  fore- 
most authority  upon  all  matters  connected  with 
the  diamond  industry.  The  Amsterdam  union 
was  organised  in  November,  1894,  after  a  simul- 
taneous strike  of  all  the  operatives.  The  strike 
and  union  followed  a  commercial  depression  of 
the  diamond  trade  and  a  consequent  reduction 
of  wages.  Prior  to  the  discovery  of  diamonds 


256       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

in  South  Africa  in  1870,  the  diamond  cutters 
of  Amsterdam  received  an  average  of  from  six- 
teen to  eighteen  dollars  per  week;  directly  after 
the  discovery,  when  diamonds  were  found  in 
large  quantities,  a  period  known  in  the  trade 
as  "  the  Cape  time,"  the  demand  for  the  skilled 
labour  of  the  cutters  was  so  great  that  wages 
were  increased  so  that  the  diamond  cutters  were 
able  to  earn  from  two  hundred  to  six  hundred 
dollars  per  week;  this  is  a  conservative  state- 
ment, for  a  diamond  cutter  now  employed  in 
New  York  City  states  that  his  father,  employed 
in  Amsterdam  during  that  time,  earned  as  high 
as  eight  hundred  dollars  in  one  week. 

The  eighty-five  hundred  diamond  workers  of 
Amsterdam  are  divided  into  ten  branches,  known 
as  follows:  No.  1,  brilliant  polishers;  2,  bril- 
liant polishers'  assistants  or  helpers;  3,  brilliant 
cutters;  4,  brilliant  setters;  5,  rose  polishers; 
6,  rose  cutters;  7,  rose  setters;  8,  six-  and  eight- 
face  polishers;  9,  cleavers,  or  splitters;  and 
10,  sawyers.  Each  of  these  branches  has  its  own 
delegation  to  represent  its  members  in  the  ex- 
ecutive board  of  the  union. 

In  North  America  the  diamond  cutters  are 
well  organised. 

When    the   United    States   levied    an    import 


5  I 


Diamond  Cutters'  Trade  Union   257 

duty  on  diamonds,  there  arose  a  demand  for 
expert  operatives  to  cut  and  polish  diamonds 
here,  and  then  came  the  first  immigrant  dia- 
mond workers,  mostly  from  Amsterdam.  As 
soon  as  there  was  a  sufficient  number  of  dia- 
mond workers  here  to  form  a  numerically 
respectable  organisation,  which  was  in  1895,  the 
men  established  their  first  union.  The  Dingley 
Tariff,  which  provided  a  duty  of  ten  per  cent, 
on  uncut  diamonds  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  on 
cut  stones,  had  been  enacted  into  a  law,  and  it 
profited  American  importers  to  have  their  dia- 
monds cut  here,  and  cut  in  accordance  with  the 
exacting  requirements  of  the  American  trade; 
so  diamond-cutting  was  raised  into  a  small  but 
a  recognised  industry.  The  first  union  organ- 
ised, although  successful  from  its  inception, 
disbanded,  because  the  membership  represented 
too  many  different  nationalities  and  customs, 
and  the  individual  members  had  not  then 
learned  the  wisdom  of  subordinating  petty  pre- 
judices and  motives  to  the  common  interest. 

The  present  union  is  entitled  The  Diamond 
Workers  Protective  Union  of  America,  and  was 
organised  September  16,  1902.  There  are  about 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  members,  a  ma- 
jority being  natives  of  Amsterdam,  although, 
17 


. 

258       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

besides  Europeans  other  than  Hollanders  in  the 
ranks,  there  are  a  few  natives  of  the  United 
States.  Most  of  the  diamond  workers  are  em- 
ployed in  New  York  City,  the  rest  being  with 
few  exceptions  in  the  cities  of  Boston,  Chicago, 
and  Cincinnati. 

There  is  but  little  of  the  unfortunate  politics 
that  so  often  characterises  labour  unions  in  the 
United  States  with  regard  to  the  control  of  the 
diamond  workers'  organisation  through  the  elec- 
tion of  officers,  and  there  have  been  but  few 
changes.  Andrew  Meyer,  a  Hollander,  is  the 
president  and  Theodore  Quetz,  a  Belgian,  is  the 
secretary.  The  members  have  a  salutary  re- 
gard for  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  their 
organisation,  and  any  objection  to  the  rulings 
of  their  Executive  Board,  which  is  composed 
of  representatives  of  every  shop  of  more  than 
seven  employees,  is  a  rare  occurrence.  No 
member  of  the  union  will  accept  employment 
without  the  consent  of  the  officers. 

On  November  15,  1903,  was  organised  the 
Universal  Diamond  Workers'  Alliance,  with  a 
membership  of  fifteen  thousand,  by  representa- 
tives of  the  trade  delegated  from  local  unions 
in  Amsterdam,  Holland;  Antwerp,  Belgium; 
Paris,  St.  Claude,  Divonne,  Thoiry,  and  Ne- 


Diamond  Cutters'  Trade  Union   259 

mours,  France;  Geneva  and  Gex,  Switzerland; 
London,  England;  and  New  York.  Through 
this  central  organisation,  all  diamond  workers 
of  the  world  are  virtually  under  one  control. 
When  a  member  of  one  local  union  goes  to  an- 
other place,  he  receives  a  certificate  which  en- 
titles him  to  membership  in  the  organisation 
existing  in  the  place  of  his  destination,  and  he 
is  entitled  to  immediately  participate  in  all 
benefits  that  the  local  union  may  afford.  Ke- 
ports  issued  monthly  by  the  International  Board 
enable  the  affiliated  local  unions  to  keep  track 
constantly  of  the  conditions  of  the  various  mar- 
kets of  the  world.  The  local  unions  contribute 
to  general  strikes  in  other  countries  and  are 
assessed,  if  necessary,  so  that  strikes  can  be 
continued  after  the  fund  of  the  local  treasury 
has  run  out.  All  news  of  worthy  importance 
to  the  workers  in  the  diamond  industry  is 
promptly  cabled.  If  a  union  proposes  to  change 
the  wages  or  other  conditions,  its  claim  is  pre- 
sented to  the  individual  employers.  If  employers 
and  employees  cannot  agree,  the  differences  are 
usually  first  referred  to  the  Diamond  Cutters' 
Manufacturers'  Association,  which  in  most  cases, 
appoints  a  committee  to  arbitrate  the  questions 
at  issue,  with  a  corresponding  committee  of  the 


26o       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

union.  From  January,  1906,  until  May,  1908, 
trade  agreements  existed  between  the  employers' 
and  employees'  associations  in  the  United  States* 
whereby  hours  of  labour,  scales  of  wages,  ap- 
prentice regulations,  and  practically  all  matters 
which  could  result  in  conflicts,  were  regulated. 
For  matters  which  were  not  covered  in  these 
agreements  a  clause  provided  that  recourse 
must  be  had  to  arbitration. 

The  diamond-cutting  industry  in  the  United 
States  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  from  its 
beginning  until  the  latter  part  of  1907,  when, 
because  of  the  financial  depression  popularly 
termed  "  the  rich  man's  panic,"  all  the  diamond- 
cutting  factories  in  America  were  closed,  throw- 
ing out  of  employment  the  entire  number  of 
diamond  workers.  Before  the  advent  of  the  en- 
suing year  a  few  factories  reopened  with  work 
progressing  on  a  small  scale,  and,  gradually, 
as  confidence  in  the  commercial  world  was  re- 
stored, the  factories  resumed  operations.  Dur- 
ing the  period  of  idleness  about  one  hundred  of 
the  workmen  in  the  trade  returned  with  their 
families  to  Amsterdam  and  Antwerp,  where  they 
received  immediate  employment. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  panic  of  1907  the 
American  diamond  cutters'  union  had  a  surplus 


Diamond  Cutters'  Trade  Union   261 

in  its  treasury  of  f 27,000;  this  sum  was  soon 
used  up  for  the  support  of  members,  and  the 
union  in  Amsterdam  remitted  a  maintenance 
fund  of  $15,000. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

JEWELRY  IN   THE  ARTS  AND   CRAFTS   MOVEMENT 

'"THE  sequence  to  the  cutting  of  a  gem  is 
*  generally  mounting  and  setting  it,  unless 
it  is  merely  perforated  and  strung  as  a  bead 
or  hung  as  a  pendant.  Mounting  and  setting 
is  the  trade  of  the  goldsmith  or  jeweller,  and 
whether  his  goods  are  artistic  or  inartistic  de- 
pends to  a  great  degree  upon  the  discrimination 
of  buyers.  There  is  almost  as  much  variation 
in  the  metallic  environment  of  gems  as  there  is 
in  architecture,  and  the  designing  and  execution 
of  the  jeweller  range  from  meritorious  to  atro- 
cious. To  a  great  extent  the  metal  mountings 
for  gems  are  stamped  out  in  dies  or  are  other- 
wise machine-made,  but  no  matter  how  deserving 
of  praise  the  original  design,  the  finished  article, 
to  the  eye  artistic,  is  "  commercial."  Within  a 
few  recent  years  the  struggle  to  elevate  art,  in 
other  directions  than  in  the  field  of  things  con- 
sidered as  exclusively  its  province,  has  invaded 
the  domain  of  jewelry,  and  some  patient  work- 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDENTS  AND  JEWELLERS 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       263 

ers  have  produced  commendable  creations  by 
their  handicraft.  This  new  jewelry  is  partly 
identified  with  what  might  be  termed  the  gen- 
eral arts  and  crafts  movement,  but,  as  is  always 
the  case  with  efforts  of  this  kind  that  become 
known  under  a  popular  name,  many  unworthy 
deeds  are  done  under  its  banner  by  the  care- 
less, the  deceptive,  or  the  undisciplined,  whose 
products,  heralded  by  them  as  "artistic,"  are 
worse  than  "  commercial."  Pretenders  can 
easily  impose  upon  the  uneducated.  But  honest 
efforts  are  being  made  by  pioneers  with  high 
ideals  to  properly  instill  them  into  the  minds 
of  student  craftsmen,  and  to  train  their  hands 
to  a  degree  of  skill  that  will  measure  up  to  the 
higher  standard,  which  hopeful  reformers  are 
trying  to  set  for  the  jewelry  of  the  future. 
The  efforts  of  these  idealists  of  the  arts  and 
crafts  movement  deserve  the  respect,  the  en- 
couragement, and  the  co-operation  of  gem  deal- 
ers and  of  the  jewelry  trade  throughout.  As  it 
has  been  well  said  by  Professor  Oliver  Cum- 
mings  Farrington  in  his  Gems  and  Gem 
Minerals : 

There  is  room,  however,  for  the  development  of 
a  much  higher  taste  in  these  matters  than  exists 
at  present.  The  average  buyer  is  content  to  know 


264       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

that  the  article  which  he  purchases  contains  a  sap- 
phire, emerald,  or  diamond,  representing  so  much 
intrinsic  value,  without  considering  whether  the 
best  use  of  it,  from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  has 
been  made;  or  whether  for  the  same  outlay 
much  more  pleasing  effects  might  not  have  been 
obtained  from  other  stones.  In  the  grouping  of 
gems,  with  regard  to  effects  of  colour,  lustre,  tex- 
ture, etc.  certain  combinations  often  seen  are  far 
from  ideal,  while  others  rarely  seen  would  be  ad- 
mirable. Thus  a  combination  of  the  diamond  and 
turquoise  is  not  a  proper  one,  since  the  opacity  of 
the  latter  stone  deadens  the  lustre  of  the  former. 
The  cat's-eye  and  diamond  make  a  better  combina- 
tion, and  so  do  the  more  familiar  diamond  and 
pearl.  Colourless  stones,  such  as  the  diamond  or 
topaz,  associate  well  with  deep-coloured  ones,  such 
as  amethyst  and  tourmaline,  each  serving  to  give 
light  and  tone  to  the  other.  Diamond  and  opal  as 
a  rule  detract  from  each  other  when  in  combina- 
tion, since  each  depends  upon  "  fire "  for  its 
attractiveness. 


While  there  are  variations  innumerable  of 
design  and  device  in  mounting  gems,  there  are 
practically  but  two  basic  methods,  the  mount 
a  jour  (two  French  words,  meaning  to  the 
light)  and  the  encased  mount.  The  ordinary 
manner  of  setting  gems  in  rings,  the  stone  held 
by  a  circlet  of  claws,  permitting  a  view  of  it, 
or  through  it,  from  all  points,  illustrates  the 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       265 

d  jour,  or  open,  method.  This  is  best  adapted 
to  transparent  stones,  exposing  them  freely  to 
the  light.  The  projecting  claws  of  the  open  set- 
ting are  slightly  cleft  near  their  extremities 
and  these,  under  a  pressure  that  inclines  them 
slightly  inward,  pinch  or  grasp  the  stone  at  the 
girdle.  Opaque  stones,  such  as  turquoise,  blood- 
stone, or  onyx,  are  usually  set  in  the  encased 
mount,  in  which  the  gem  is  set  in  a  metal  bed, 
with  only  the  top  exposed. 

While  to  some  degree  anything  fashioned  by 
machinery  is  open  to  the  detracting  term  "  com- 
mercial," there  is  often  much  artistic  merit  in 
the  designs  issuing  from  the  factories  of  man- 
ufacturing jewellers,  but  nothing  can  rival  the 
charm  of  objects  wrought  solely  and  entirely  by 
hand. 

The  work  of  the  more  expert  of  the  students 
taking  the  jewelry  course  in  Pratt  Institute  of 
Brooklyn,  and  at  other  educational  institutions 
where  this  department  of  art  and  manual  train- 
ing is  a  serious  feature,  is  a  revelation  of 
present  attainments,  and  a  hopeful  sign  that  the 
jewelry  of  the  future  in  America  will  conform 
more  to  true  artistic  ideals  and  serve  less  as  a 
medium  for  mere  ostentatious  display.  An  ex- 
hibition of  the  work  of  students  in  the  jewelry 


266       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

course  was  an  attractive  phase  of  the  twenty- 
fifth  annual  exhibit  of  student  products  at  Pratt 
Institute  in  June,  1908.  The  exhibits  of  the 
class  in  jewelry  and  metal-chasing  were  dis- 
played in  two  large  glass  cases,  and  consisted 
of  rings,  pendants,  bracelets,  stick-pins,  brooches, 
scarf-pins,  buckles,  and  hammered  copper  work. 

A  silver  medal  presented  by  Mr.  Albert  M. 
Kohn  of  New  York  City,  as  a  prize  for  the 
most  proficient  student  of  the  jewelry  class,  was 
awarded  by  a  committee  of  trustees,  who  acted 
as  a  jury  of  award,  to  Mr.  Carl  H.  Johonnot. 
The  work  exhibited  by  the  winner  of  the  medal 
included  a  number  of  fine  pendants,  rings,  silver 
spoon,  and  stick  pins. 

For  a  description  of  the  class  in  jewelry  de- 
signing at  the  Pratt  Institute,  and  also  for  ex- 
cellent photographs  of  finished  work  executed 
and  designed  by  students  of  the  class  of  1908, 
credit  is  given  to  Mr.  Walter  Scott  Perry, 
Director  of  the  Department  of  Fine  and  Applied 
Arts,  of  the  Institute. 

The  first  class  in  jewelry,  hammered  metal, 
and  enamelling  was  organised  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Fine  and  Applied  Arts,  Pratt  Institute, 
in  September,  1900,  with  Mr.  Joseph  Aranyi  as 
instructor  in  day  and  evening  classes.  Mr. 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       267 

Aranyi  at  the  time  was  one  of  the  expert  work- 
ers with  Messrs.  Tiffany  &  Company,  New 
York  City.  He  continued  as  instructor  of  the 
class,  until  June,  1904,  when  he  resigned  his 
position  to  accept  one  in  Providence,  Rhode 
Island. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Carl  T. 
Hamann  was  appointed  instructor  in  jewelry, 
and  for  some  time  has  had  full  charge  of  all 
work  of  this  class.  He  has  proved  himself  an 
exceptionally  fine  instructor,  and  the  quality  of 
work  has  gained  very  rapidly  under  his  instruc- 
tion. Mr.  Hamann  is  an  expert  jeweller  by 
profession,  being  formerly  connected  with 
Durand  &  Company,  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  later 
with  Tiffany  &  Company,  New  York.  In  1889 
he  went  to  Europe  and  studied  modelling  in 
Munich  for  one  and  a  half  years,  going  from 
there  to  Paris,  where  he  studied  in  the  Academic 
Julian  and  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  for  two 
years.  After  his  return  to  this  country  he  be- 
came the  head  modeller  for  the  Whiting  Man- 
ufacturing Company,  New  York.  Mr.  Hamann 
was  the  sculptor  of  the  statue  of  Justice  which 
was  one  of  the  eight  statues  on  the  Trium- 
phal Bridge  at  the  Pan-American  Exposition  at 
Buffalo.  At  St.  Louis  he  had  a  statue  symbol- 


268       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

ical  of  Wyoming  in  the  Colonnade  of  States, 
and  he  is  also  sculptor  of  the  figure  of 
Modern  Art  on  the  permanent  Fine  Arts 
Building.  Mr.  Hamann  is  a  member  of  the 
National  Sculpture  Society.  He  brings  to  the 
students  the  knowledge  and  skill  of  a  profes- 
sional workman,  combined  with  the  originality 
and  artistic  appreciation  of  a  professional 
artist. 

In  September,  1904,  Mr.  Julien  Ramar  became 
instructor  in  chasing  and  hammered  metal  work 
in  the  evening  class,  and  also  gave  two  half- 
days  to  the  day  class.  Mr.  Kamar  was  for  sev- 
eral years  chaser  for  Elkington  &  Company, 
England,  and  in  America  had  been  employed  by 
the  National  Fine  Art  Foundry,  the  Archer  & 
Pancoast  Company,  the  Edward  F.  Caldwell 
Company,  and  other  firms. 

In  September,  1905,  Mr.  Theodore  T.  Goerck 
took  charge  of  chasing  and  hammered  work  in 
the  day  and  evening  classes  and  continued  as 
instructor  for  two  years. 

Mr.  Hamann  at  present  is  instructor  in  both 
day  and  evening  classes.  The  classes  have 
grown  steadily  and  the  work  has  increased  in 
efficiency.  Students  have  been  very  successful 
in  securing  employment.  Many  have  opened 


GOLD  PENDANT  WITH  TOPAZ  AND  GOLD  PENDANT  WITH  PEAKLS 

PEARL  (OLD  CHAIN) 

GOLD  RING,  WITH  OPAL  AND  EMERALDS 

BY  MRS.  EDNAH  S.  G.  HIGGINSON 

The  Society  of  Arts  and  Crafts,  Boston 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       269 

studios  of  their  own  and  fill  orders  that  come  to 
them  from  many  and  varied  sources. 

The  courses  are  planned  to  meet  the  needs  of 
those  who  wish  to  enter  the  trades  involving 
jewelry,  enamelling,  repousse,  chasing  in  pre- 
cious and  other  metals,  and  the  making  of  suit- 
able tools  required  in  such  work.  They  give 
adequate  training  in  design  and  modelling,  in 
the  application  of  designs  to  practical  problems, 
the  setting  of  stones,  enamelling  and  finishing, 
and  in  the  methods  and  practice  of  technical 
work  in  metal.  Instruction  is  also  given  in 
medal  work  and  in  the  preparation  of  models 
for  reduction. 

The  increasing  demand  for  applied  art  work 
in  useful  objects,  and  the  difficulty  experienced 
by  manufacturers  in  securing  the  services  of 
American  artisans  whose  knowledge  and  skill 
are  sufficient  to  guarantee  good  workmanship, 
present  a  trade  condition  which  offers  unusual 
opportunities  for  remunerative  employment  and 
advancement  to  those  who  have  had  the  advan- 
tage of  such  training  as  these  courses  give. 

In  this  day  of  specialisation,  the  apprentice- 
ship system  is  no  longer  adequate.  The  appren- 
tice acquires  little  more  than  the  skill  necessary 
to  meet  the  technical  requirements  of  his  trade; 


270       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

but,  as  the  success  of  the  ornamental  metal 
worker  depends  quite  as  much  upon  his  artistic 
conceptions  and  his  designs  as  upon  his  skill  in 
execution,  the  work  of  the  shop  must  be  sup- 
plemented by  art  instruction.  By  alternating 
the  character  of  the  problems  given  to  the  stu- 
dents, the  applied  work  shows  the  inspiration 
that  comes  from  a  careful  study  of  modelling, 
ornament,  and  the  principles  of  design ;  and  the 
work  in  modelling  and  design  shows  the  adjust- 
ment and  illumination  that  come  from  constant 
contact  with  practical  problems. 

The  courses  appeal  to  two  classes  of  workers; 
to  the  apprentice  who,  by  this  instruction,  can 
greatly  shorten  the  period  of  his  apprentice- 
ship, and  who  can  supplement  the  technical  skill 
which  he  would  gain  in  the  shop  by  the  work 
in  drawing,  modelling,  and  design;  also  to  the 
art  student  who  is  turning  his  attention  to  work 
in  the  applied  arts.  The  opening  offered  to  such 
a  man  in  this  field  exceeds  that  in  almost  any 
line  of  illustrative  art  work;  and  the  demand 
for  trained  workers  in  the  skilled  trades  in  art 
applied  to  metals  and  the  limited  supply  of  such 
men  make  advancement  practically  assured  to 
an  earnest  worker. 

The  rooms  of  the  department  devoted  to  the 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement        271 

study  and  practice  of  jewelry  and  other  forms 
of  metal  work  are  equipped  as  workshops  with 
everything  needful  for  practical  and  applied 
work. 

The  day  course  includes  instruction  in  draw- 
ing, design,  historic  ornament,  and  in  applied 
work  in  chasing  and  repousse,  jewelry,  enamel- 
ling, and  medal  work. 

All  work  is  designed  and  modelled  in  wax, 
cast  in  plaster,  and  then  wrought  in  copper, 
silver,  or  gold.  In  the  work  in  jewelry,  silver 
is  used  from  the  first,  students  making  rings 
with  various  stone  settings,  scarf  pins,  pendants, 
chains,  bracelets,  buttons,  brooches,  etc.,  the 
work  being  plain,  decorated,  chased,  or  set  with 
stones. 

In  hammered  metal  work,  students  make  their 
own  tools  and  produce  shallow  and  deep  objects 
in  copper  and  silver,  including  trays,  bowls, 
spoons,  and  the  like,  with  decorative  designs  and 
repousse"  chasing.  Parts  of  objects,  such  as 
handles  and  supports,  are  also  cast,  chased,  and 
applied  as  needed  in  the  design. 

Instruction  is  given  in  enamelling  on  copper, 
silver,  and  gold. 

All  work  is  done  in  a  thoroughly  professional 
manner.  Applicants  are  accepted  only  for  regu- 


272       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

lar  and  systematic  work,  and  they  must  give 
evidence  of  originality,  skill,  and  general  fitness 
for  the  course. 

Certificates  will  be  granted  for  the  satisfac- 
tory completion  of  a  day  course  of  three  years. 

The  classes  meet  for  work  daily,  except 
Saturday,  from  9.00  A.M.  to  4,25  P.M.  Instruc- 
tion is  given  on  eight  of  the  ten  half-day  ses- 
sions. The  tuition  fees  are,  |20.00  a  term,  with 
an  additional  laboratory  fee  of  $3.00  a  term  for 
miscellaneous  material  used  by  students.  There 
are  three  terms  in  each  school  year.  The  fall 
term  opens  the  last  week  in  September. 

The  course  provides  for  wax-modelling,  ham- 
mered metal  work,  the  application  of  relief 
ornament,  and  the  finishing  of  casting  in  a 
thoroughly  professional  manner;  the  work  being 
planned  for  advanced  students  as  well  as  for 
beginners.  Instruction  is  given  in  the  making 
of  tools,  the  modelling  of  objects  in  sheet  metal, 
repousse,  or  relief  ornament  in  flat  and  hollow 
wrare,  and  the  chasing  of  ornament  in  brass, 
bronze,  silver,  and  gold.  Instruction  is  also 
given  in  jewelry.  The  class  meets  on  Monday, 
Wednesday,  and  Friday,  from  7.30  to  9.30  P.M., 
from  the  last  week  of  September  to  the  last  of 
March.  The  tuition  fee  for  the  evening  course 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement        273 

is  $15.00  a  season  of  six  months,  which  includes 
all  practice  material  used  by  students  in 
class. 

Students  and  alumni  of  Pratt  Institute  have 
organised  The  Pratt  Art  Club,  which  its  mem- 
bers otherwise  quaintly  designate  as  "  Ye  Brook- 
lyn Club  of  Ye  Handicraf ters  " ;  in  its  exhibi- 
tions, held  at  the  club's  rooms  near  Pratt 
Institute,  are  shown  some  attractive  specimens 
of  the  work  of  these  crafters. 

There  is  a  course  in  jewelry  designing  at 
Cooper  Union  in  New  York  City  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Edward  Ehrle.  The  Cooper 
Union  class  meets  tri-weekly,  in  the  evening, 
for  a  two  hours'  session.  The  work  begins 
with  easy  geometrical  designs;  original  work 
by  the  pupils  is  constantly  encouraged.  The 
school  year  begins  the  second  Monday  after 
September  15th  and  ends  about  May  15th.  The 
full  course  requires  about  three  years.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  term  in  the  year  1908,  a  cash 
prize  offered  by  The  Jewellers'  Circular-Weekly 
was  awarded  to  Mr.  Frederick  E.  Bauer  for  his 
excellent  work. 

A  resource  of  value  to  the  artistic  designer 
of  jewelry  in  and  near  New  York  City  is  the 
Cooper  Union  Museum  for  the  Arts  of  Decora- 

z8 


274       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

tion,  a  subsidiary  institution  of  this  famous  old 
hall  of  education  that  is  now,  although  pro- 
gressing in  its  acquisition  of  valuable  exhibits,  of 
incalculable  value  to  the  arts  and  industries  of 
America;  the  usefulness  of  this  institution  is 
however  restricted,  because  it  is  not  well  known. 
It  is  probably  a  safe  assumption  to  say  that  not 
one  person  in  many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  metropolis  is  cognisant  of  the  existence 
of  such  a  treasure-house,  which  is  available  to 
all  earnest  seekers  after  ideas,  information,  and 
material  for  the  betterment  of  art,  and  under 
conditions  impossible  to  excel  in  providing  the 
greatest  opportunity  and  freedom  to  all  who 
will  avail  themselves  of  it.  The  contents  of  this 
museum  would  astonish  thousands  who  are 
familiar  with  the  broadly  advertised  contents 
of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  and  the 
feeling  of  regret  that  comes  over  the  appreciative 
visitor  to  the  Cooper  Union  Museum  suggests 
the  reflection  that  a  little  adept  yet  dignified 
promotion  of  publicity  would  be  beneficial  to 
the  efficiency  of  this  institution.  A  strong  feat- 
ure of  this  working  museum  is  a  collection  of 
encyclopedic  scrap-books,  open,  like  all  else 
here,  to  all  applicants  for  permission  to  use 
them;  the  scrap-book  covering  jewelry  shows 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       275 

many  excellent  designs,  fertile  in  ideas  for 
bracelets,  cbatelains,  clasps,  lockets,  combs, 
crowns,  tiaras,  bead  ornaments,  dress  and 
engraved  ornaments,  knots  and  bowknots,  ear- 
rings, girdles,  belts,  hoops,  rings,  necklaces,  pen- 
dants, sceptres,  seals,  and  watches. 

While  the  bibliography  presented  in  this  vol- 
ume is  extensive  and  of  wide  scope,  unfortu- 
nately, but  a  few  of  the  books  listed  are  to  be 
found  in  the  average  public  or  institutional 
library.  A  valuable  resource  for  the  students 
at  Pratt  Institute  or  Cooper  Union,  or  any  one 
who  would  delve  as  deeply  as  possible  into  the 
subject  of  jewelry,  is  the  Society  Library  in  Uni- 
versity Place,  near  Thirteenth  Street,  New  York 
City.  This,  Manhattan  Island's  oldest  library, 
was  founded  by  King  George  II.,  and  his  repre- 
sentative who  was  at  the  time  the  royal  governor 
of  the  Colony  of  New  York.  The  family  of  ex- 
President  Koosevelt  have  been  benefactors  of 
the  library  for  six  generations,  and  he  is  at  this 
time  an  active  member  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
Although  not  a  public  library,  the  superb  col- 
lection of  art  books,  selected  with  special 
reference  to  the  requirements  of  artists  and 
handicraftsmen,  is  always  open  to  designers. 
There  is  a  large  endowment  fund  for  the  sup- 


276       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

port  of  the  art  book  department,  which  is  known 
as  "  the  Greene  foundation." 

The  productions  of  designers  and  workers  in 
jewelry  seen  in  the  annual  exhibitions  now  held 
by  the  National  Arts  Club,  in  collaboration 
with  the  National  Society  of  Craftsmen,  in  the 
galleries  of  the  club  at  119  East  Nineteenth 
Street,  New  York  City,  prove  the  good  work 
that  is  being  done  by  individuals  and  members 
of  various  schools  and  classes;  these  include  the 
jewelry  class  of  the  New  York  Evening  School, 
and  the  jewelry  class  of  Miss  Grace  Hazen  of 
Gloucester,  Mass. 

At  Newark,  N.  J.,  an  industrial  city  which 
includes  among  its  industries  considerable  jew- 
elry manufacturing,  there  is  the  Newark  Techni- 
cal School,  supported  by  appropriations  from 
both  the  city  of  Newark  and  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  which  has  a  valuable  course  for  workers 
in  jewelry. 

In  Boston  there  is  continuous  encouragement 
to  designers  of  art  jewelry  in  the  work  and 
influence  of  the  Society  of  Arts  and  Crafts, 
Boston,  incorporated  in  1897,  and  which  holds 
exhibitions  semi-annually.  A  recent  exhibition 
of  this  society  included  a  valuable  and  most 
interesting  display  of  American  jewelry,  the 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement        277 

feature  of  which  was  a  large  collection  of  ex- 
quisitely designed,  excellently  drawn,  and  well 
executed  pieces  from  the  Copley  Square  Studio 
of  Frank  Gardner  Hale,  the  exhibit  occupying 
one  end  of  the  exhibition  gallery.  Mr.  Hale's 
products  are  not  only  definite  in  design,  but 
the  construction  of  his  mountings  of  gems  is 
practical  and  would  satisfy  the  mechanical  re- 
quirements of  manufacturers  of  jewelry  com- 
mercial, which  a  good  deal  of  the  work  of 
exponents  of  arts  and  crafts  jewelry  would  not. 
New  Yorkers  at  home  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  see  some  of  Mr.  Hale's  remarkable  work  at 
an  exhibition  at  the  Clausen  Galleries.  Among 
the  designs  exhibited,  chains,  necklaces,  pen- 
dants, and  brooches  predominated;  there  were 
numerous  crucifixes  in  silver,  some  of  them  con- 
taining precious  and  semi-precious  stones.  In 
the  number  and  excellence  of  these  crucifixes, 
Mountford  Hill  Smith  took  the  lead  among  the 
exhibitors.  Marblehead's  handicraft  shop  was 
represented  by  the  work  of  H.  Gustave  Rogers. 
Commendable  work  was  shown  by  Jane  Carson 
and  Theodora  Walcott.  Notable  exhibits  were 
those  of  Laura  H.  Martin,  Elizabeth  E.  Cope- 
land,  and  Martha  Rogers.  Ingenious  schemes 
of  colour  in  small  enamels  were  shown  by  Mabel 


278       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

W.  Luther.  William  D.  Denton  of  Welleslej- 
exhibited  "  butterfly  jewelry "  in  which  the 
wings  of  the  butterflies  are  protected  by  rock 
crystals  set  in  gold  mounting.  Florence  A. 
Richmond  and  Jessie  Lane  Burbank  from  the 
workshop  in  Park  Square  exhibited  pieces  de- 
serving honourable  mention. 

The  officers  of  this  society  are:  President, 
H.  Langford  Warren;  Vice-Presidents,  A.  W. 
Longfellow,  J.  Samuel  Hodge,  and  C.  Howard 
Walker;  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer  is  Mr. 
Frederic  Allen  Whiting  of  No.  9  Park  Street, 
Boston. 

In  Providence,  K.  I.,  a  centre  of  the  great 
jewelry  manufacturing  interests  of  New  Eng- 
land, there  are  various  opportunities  for  the 
aspirant  for  technical  proficiency  in  the  design- 
ing and  making  of  jewelry;  there  is  a  jewelry 
class  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
a  course  in  the  regular  curriculum  of  the  public 
Manual  Training  or  Technical  High  School,  and 
an  important  department  of  the  Ehode  Island 
School  of  Design  is  that  devoted  to  jewelry  de- 
signing, silversmithing,  and  shop  work.  For  many 
years  the  New  England  Manufacturing  Jewellers 
and  Silversmiths'  Association  has  annually  of- 
fered a  sum  of  money,  to  be  divided  into  several 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       279 

prizes,  to  stimulate  students  at  this  school  of 
design  to  systematically  study  the  designing  of 
jewelry  and  silverware. 

The  Bradley  Polytechnic  Institute  of  Peoria, 
111.,  is  an  institution  important  in  its  relation 
to  the  present  subject,  having  a  jewelry  course 
that  has  attained  and  deserves  a  wide  reputa- 
tion; the  course  extends  over  a  period  of  from 
three  to  five  months'  duration.  The  instruction 
includes  the  making  and  finishing  of  oval  and 
flat  gold  band  rings,  modelling  for  casting, 
signets,  designing  and  production  of  jewelry, 
and  all  such  repairing  as  is  called  for  in  ordinary 
jewelry  store  practice. 

At  Indianapolis,  an  indefatigable  pioneer  in 
the  instruction  of  ambitious  artisans  in  the  pre- 
cious metals  is  Mr.  Charles  B.  Dyer,  who  has 
inaugurated  a  local  representation  of  the  arts 
and  crafts  movement  with  a  school  and  a  shop 
in  which  the  hand-made  jewelry  of  the  students 
and  graduates  of  the  school  is  sold.  About  forty 
students  were  enrolled  in  the  class  of  1908.  At 
a  semi-annual  exhibition  of  the  students'  hand- 
wrought  products  about  three  hundred  pieces 
were  exhibited,  including  bronze  and  copper 
work;  the  items  in  the  exhibition  were  inspected 
with  lively  interest  by  several  hundred  visitors, 


280       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

whose    commendations    were    enthusiastic    and 
freely  bestowed. 

In  response  to  a  request,  Mr.  Dyer  supplied 
an  interesting  account  of  the  beginning  and 
progress  of  this  Middle  West  school,  that  is 
successfully  uplifting  ideals  and  enabling  the 
ambitious  and  earnest  young  worker  to  design 
and  make  jewelry  that  come  up  to  an  artistic 
standard,  as  follows: 

Three  years  ago  there  was  formed  in  Indianapolis 
a  "  Society  of  Arts  and  Crafts  "  with  a  very  pro- 
mising membership.  A  house  was  rented  and  fur- 
nished and  salesrooms  opened.  The  movement  grew 
and  a  large  number  of  the  right  kind  of  people 
became  interested.  Unfortunately,  however,  there 
were  so  very  few  of  the  members  who  were  crafts- 
men or  in  any  way  producers  of  salable  stuff  that 
everything  had  to  be  gotten  on  consignment  from 
outside.  Like  so  many  other  associations  that  have 
tried  the  commission  plan,  and  through  mismanage- 
ment, the  society  did  not  live  long. 

During  its  life,  however,  it  had  started  a  number 
of  earnest  people  to  thinking  and  had  given  them 
the  desire  not  only  to  raise  their  standards  of 
beauty  in  both  useful  and  decorative  objects,  but 
to  express  their  own  thought  and  individuality.  My 
father  and  I  had  taken  great  interest  in  the  move- 
ment and  had  made  a  number  of  pieces  of  jewelry 
for  the  salesroom.  When  we  were  asked  to  start 
a  class,  teach  the  use  of  tools,  and  show  how  origi- 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement        281 

nal  designs  could  be  executed  in  metal,  we  were 
glad  to  undertake  the  work.  We  started  with  a 
class  of  five,  all  of  whom  were  art  teachers  in  the 
high  schools  here.  I  might  say  in  passing  we  had 
over  seventy-five  applicants  this  fall. 

As  we  conduct  a  manufacturing  jewelry  business, 
our  shop  is  well  equipped  for  all  kinds  of  metal 
work.  We  have  a  bench  for  each  worker  where  all 
the  small  tools,  hammers,  wax  blocks,  and  punches 
are  kept  and  also  several  large  vises  and  anvils  for 
the  large  copper  work.  Polishers,  rolls,  annealing 
furnace,  enamelling  furnace,  and  all  kinds  of  other 
tools  make  the  shop  complete  enough  for  any  work. 

As  the  class  is  only  a  sort  of  pastime  for  us  we 
have  it  at  night  and  charge  almost  nothing  for 
tuition. 

The  worker  first  designs  the  piece  and  selects  the 
stones  and  material  to  be  used.  After  the  design 
has  been  criticised  it  is  transferred  to  metal  and 
executed.  We  have  no  class  problems  or  lectures. 
All  the  pieces  and  all  the  criticism  are  individual. 
In  that  way  we  do  not  allow  any  worker  to  leave 
a  piece  until  it  is  well  executed. 

Most  of  the  workers  are  so  interested  in  the  work 
that  they  have  their  own  workshops  and  tools  at 
home,  and  a  number  of  them  have  not  only  pro- 
duced some  very  creditable  pieces  but  have  made 
good  money  in  doing  it. 

At  the  end  of  each  term,  that  is  just  before 
Christmas  and  in  June,  we  have  an  exhibit  and 
sale  of  the  class  work. 

We  send  out  copper  plate  invitations  and  make 
a  social  affair  of  it  and  succeed  in  selling  most 
everything  produced  during  the  term.  We  have  ere- 


282       A  Book  of  Precious  Stones 

ated  a  wide  interest  in  the  movement  and  are  much 
encouraged  to  carry  it  along. 

From  many  sources  students  are  now  receiv- 
ing aid,  encouragement,  and  information  which 
but  a  few  years  ago  was  unheard  of  in  America. 
A  case  in  point  is  the  offering  annually  by 
Herpers  Bros.,  a  business  concern  extensively 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  parts  of  com- 
mercial jewelry,  in  New  York  City  and  New- 
ark, N.  J.,  of  gold  medals  to  the  most  proficient 
students  in  five  leading  technical  schools  in  the 
United  States. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Hon.  Oscar  Straus, 
Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labour,  it  is  said:  Prof.  John  Monaghan,  for 
a  long  time  a  representative  of  the  United  States 
Government,  in  the  consular  service,  has  de- 
livered series  of  lectures  for  jewellers'  associa- 
tions and  at  technical  institutions  which  have 
jewelry  classes  or  courses.  While  consul  at 
Chemnitz,  Germany,  Prof.  Monaghan  devoted 
much  time  to  a  study  of  the  technical  schools  of 
the  German  Empire. 

In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Gutzon  Borglum,  as 
lately  expressed  in  The  Craftsman,  the  art  school 
of  to-day  will  pass  and  be  supplanted  by  the 


Arts  and  Crafts  Movement       283 

school  of  crafts,  with  the  predicted  result  that 
there  would  be  immediate  improvement  in  our 
wares,  furniture,  textiles,  interior  decorations, 
and  ornaments  of  every  kind,  and  that,  instead  of 
the  host  of  unsuccessful  artists  of  to-day,  there 
would  be  successful  master  craftsmen,  putting 
life  and  beauty  into  our  liberal  arts,  invaluable 
citizens,  and,  incidentally,  that  these  graduates 
of  the  schools  of  crafts  would  be  economically 
independent  and  contented.  Mr.  Borglum  points 
out  that  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  with 
its  collections  would  form  a  nucleus  and  a 
foundation  for  this  useful  innovation. 


APPENDIX 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    GEM    MINERALS 

(According  to  Wirt  Tassin) 


Achirite,  see  Dioptase. 

Achroite,  see  Tourma- 
line. 

Actinolite,  see  Cat's-eye. 

Adamantine  spar,  see 
Corundum. 

Adularia,  see  Orthoclase. 

Agate,  see  Quartz. 

A  g  a  t  i  z  e  d  wood,  see 
Quartz. 

Alabaster,  see  Gypsum. 

Alaska  diamond,  see 
Quartz. 

Alexandrite,  see  Chryso- 
beryl. 

Allanite. 

Almandite,  see  Garnet. 

Amazonstone,  see  Micro- 
line. 

Amber. 

Amethyst,  see  Quartz. 

Amethyst  (Oriental),  see 
Corundum. 

Anatase,  see  Octahedrite. 

A  n  con  a  ruby,  see  Quartz. 

Andalusite, 


Andradite,  see  Garnet. 

Anhydrite. 

Apatite. 

Aphrizite,  see  Tourma- 
line. 

Apophyllite. 

Asteria,  see  Corundum. 

Asteria,  see  Quartz. 

Aquamarine,  see  Beryl. 

Aragonite,  see  Carbon- 
ate of  Lime. 

Arkansite,  see  Brookite. 

Automolite,  see  Spinel. 

Aventurine,  see  O  1  i  g  o- 
clase. 

Aventurine,  see  O  r  t  h  o- 
clase. 

Aventurine,  see  Quartz. 

Axinite. 

Azurite. 

Balas  ruby,  see  Spinel. 

Banded  a  g  a  t  o,  see 
Quartz. 

Barite. 

Basanite,  see  Quartz. 

Beekite^  see  Quartz. 


285 


286 


Appendix 


Benitoite. 

Beryl. 

Beryllonite. 

Bloodstone,  see  Quartz. 

Bone      Turquoise,      see 

Odontolite. 
Bort,  see  Diamond. 
Bottle  stone,  see  Obsid- 
ian. 
Bowenite,  see  S  e  r  p  e  n- 

tine. 
Brazilian    diamond,    see 

Quartz. 
Brazilian  emerald,  see 

Tourmaline. 
Brazilian     pebble,     see 

Quartz. 
Bronzite. 
Brookite. 

Cacholpng,  see  Opal. 
Cairngorm,  see  Quartz. 
Calcite,  see  Carbonate  of 

Lime. 

Callainite,  see  Turquoise. 
Cancrinite. 

Carbonado,  see  Diamond. 
Carbuncle,  see  Garnet. 
Carnelian,  see  Quartz. 
Cassiterite. 
Catlinite. 

Ceylonite,  see  Spinel. 
Chalcedony,  see  Quartz. 
iChiastolite,  see  Andalu- 

site. 


Chlorastrolite,  see  Preh- 
nite. 

Chloromelanite,  see  Jade. 

Chlorophane,  see  Fluo- 
rite. 

Chlorospinel,  see  Spinel. 

Chondroite. 

Chromic  iron. 

Chrysoberyl. 

Chrysocolla. 

Chrysolite,  see  Olivine. 

Chrysolite  (Oriental), 
see  Chrysoberyl. 

Ohrysoprase,  see  Quartz. 

Cinnamon  stone,  see  Gar- 
net. 

Citrine  quartz,  see 
Quartz. 

Coal. 

Cobaltite. 

Cobrastone,  see  Fluorite. 

Colophonite,  see  Garnet. 

Congo  emerald,  see  Diop- 
tase. 

Coral,  see  Carbonate  of 
Lime. 

Cornelian,  see  Quartz. 

Corundum.      .fa^jlf-. 

Crocidolite. 

Cymophane,  see  Chryso- 
beryl. 

Cyprine,  see  Vesuvianite. 

Damourite. 

Datolite. 


Appendix 


Demantoid,    see    G  a  r- 

net. 

Diamond. 
Diaspore. 

Dichroite,  see  lolite. 
Diopside. 
Dioptase. 

Disthene,  see  Kyanite. 
Dninortierite. 
Dysluite,  see  Spinel. 
Egyptian  jasper,  see 
""IJiiartz. 

Emerald,  see  Beryl. 
Emerald,  ( Brazilian ),see 

Tourmaline. 
Emerald    (Congo),    see 

Dioptase. 
Emerald    (Evening),  see 

Olivine. 
Emerald  (Oriental),  see 

Corundum. 
Emerald    (Uralian),   see 

Garnet. 
Enstatite. 
Epidote. 

-Essonite,  see  Garnet. 
Euclase. 

Eye  agate,  see  Quartz. 
Eye-stone,  see  Quartz. 
Fairy  stone,  see  Stauro- 

lite. 

/Fire  opal,  see  Opal. 
Fish-eye  stone,  see  Apo- 

phyllite. 


F16che    d'amour,    see 


Quartz. 

Fluorite. 

Fossil  coral,  see  Carbon- 
ate of  lime. 

Fossil  coral,  see  Quartz. 

Fossil  Turquoise,  see 
Odontolite. 

Fowlerite,  see  Rhodonite. 

Gadolinite. 

Gahnite,  see  Spinel. 

Garnet. 

Girasol,  see  Corundum. 

Gold. 

Gold  quartz,  see  Gold. 

Gothite. 

Graphic  granite,  see  Peg- 
matite. 

Grenat  syriam,  see  Gar- 
net. 

Grossularite,  see  Garnet. 

Guarnaccino,  see  Garnet. 

Gypsum. 

Harlequin  opal,  see  Opal. 

Heliotrope,  see  Quartz. 

Helolite,  see  Oligoclase. 

Hematite. 

Hercynite,  see  Spinel. 

Hiddenite,  see  S  p  o  d  u- 
mene. 

Hornblende. 

Horn  stone,  see  Quartz. 

Hyacinth,  see  Garnet. 

Hyacinth,  see  Zircon. 


288 


Appendix 


Hyaline,  see  Quartz. 

Hyalite,  sec  Opal. 

Hyalosiderite,  see  O  1  i- 

vine. 
tHydrophane,  see  Opal. 

Hypersthene. 

Iceland  agate,  see  Obsid- 
ian. 

Ichthyophthalmite,    see 
Apophyllite. 

Idocrase,    see   Vesuvian- 
ite. 

Ilmenite. 

Indicolite,    see    Tourma- 
line. 

lolite. 

Iris^  see  Quartz. 

Isopyre. 

Jacinth,  see  Zircon. 

Jade. 

Jargon,  see  Zircon. 

Jargoon,  see  Zircon. 

Jasper,  see  Quartz. 

Jet,  see  Coal. 

Job's  tears,  see  Olivine. 

Kunzite,  see  Spodumene. 

Kyanite. 

Labradorite. 

Lapis-lazuli. 
'  Lccliosos  opal,  see  Opal. 

Leelite,  see  Orthoclase. 

Leopardite,    see    P  o  r- 
phyry. 

Lepidolite. 


Lintonite,  see  Thomson- 
ite. 

Lithia  emerald,  see  Spo- 
dumene. 

Lithoxyle,  see  Opal. 

Lodestone,    see    Magnet- 
ite. 

Lydian  stone,  sec  Quartz. 

Made,  sec  Andalusite. 

Magnetite. 

Malachite. 

Marble,  see  Carbonate  of 
lime. 

Marcasite,  see  Pyrite. 

Marekanite,  see  O  b  s  i  d- 
ian. 

Melanite,  see  Garnet. 

Microlite. 

Milky  quartz,  see  Quartz. 

Mocha  stone,  see  Quartz. 

Moldavite,  see  Obsidian. 

Monazite. 

Mont  Blanc  ruby,  see 
Quartz. 

Moonstone,  see  O  1  i  g  o- 
clase. 

Moonstone,  see  O  r  t  h  o- 
clase. 

Morion,  see  Quartz. 

Moss  agate,  see  Quartz. 
;Moss  opal,  see  Opal. 
'  Mountain  mahogany,  see 
Obsidian. 

Mailer's  glass,,  see  Opal. 

1 


Appendix 


289 


Natrolite. 

Nephrite,  see  Jade. 

NicolOj  see  Quartz. 

Nigrine,  see  Butile. 

Obsidian. 

Octahedrite. 

Odontolite. 

Oligoclase. 

Olivine. 

Onyx,  see  Carbonate  of 

lime. 

Onyj:,  see  Quartz. 
OoliTe,  see  Carbonate  of 

lime. 


f  Opal  ised  wood,  see  Opal. 
jOrthoclase.  Ouachita 

stonej  see  Quartz. 
Ouvarovite,  see  Garnet. 
Pearl,  see  Carbonate  of 

lime. 

Pearlyte,  see  Obsidian. 
Pegmatite. 
Peridot,  see  Olivine. 
Peristerite,  see  Albite. 
PerthitCj  see  Orthoclase. 
Phantom   quartz,  see 

Quartz. 
Phenacite. 

Pipestone,  see  Catlinite. 
Pisolite,  see  Calcite. 
Plasma,  see  Quartz. 
Pleonast,  see  Spinel. 
Porphyry. 


Prase^,  see  Quartz. 

Prehnite. 

Pseudonephrite,  see 
Jade. 

Pyrite. 

Pyrope,  see  Garnet. 

Quartz. 

Rhodolite,  see  Garnet. 

Rhodonite. 

Ribband  jasper,  see 
Quartz. 

Rock  crystal,  see  Quartz. 

Romanzovite,  see  Garnet. 

Rose  quartz,  see  Quartz. 

Rubasse,  see  Quartz. 

Rubellite,  see  Tourma- 
line. 

Rubicelle,  see  Spinel. 

Rubino-di-rocca,  see  Gar- 
net. 

Ruby,  see  Corundum. 

Rutile. 

Sapphire,  see  Quartz.  T 

St.  Stephen's  stone,  see 
Quartz. 

Samarskite. 

Saphir  d'eau,  see  Idolite. 

Sapphire,  see  Corundum. 

Sapphire,  see  Quartz. 

Sard,  see  Quartz. 

Sardonyx,  see  Quartz. 

Satin  spar,  see  Carbon- 
ate of  lime. 

Satin  spar,  see  Gypsum. 


29o 


Appendix 


Saussurite,  see  Jade. 

Saxon  topaz,  see  Quartz. 

Scapolite. 

Schorl,  see  Tourmaline. 

Scotch  topaz,  see  Quartz. 

Serpentine. 

Siderite,  sec  Quartz. 

Silidfied  wood,  see  Opal. 

Silicified  wood,  see 
Quartz. 

Smithsonite. 

Smoky  quartz,  see 
Quartz. 

Sodalite. 

Spanish  topaz,  see  Topaz. 

Spessartite,  see  G  a r- 
net. 

Sphaerulite,  see  Obsid- 
ian. 

Sphene,  see  Titanite. 

Spinel. 

Spodumene. 

Stalagmite,  see  Carbon- 
ate of  lime. 

Star  quartz,  see  Quartz. 

Star  ruby,  see  Corun- 
dum. 

Star  sapphire,  see  Corun- 
dum. 

Staurolite. 

Succinite,  see  Amber. 

Sunstone,  see  Oligoclase. 

Sunstone,  see  Orthoclase. 
eTabasheer,  see  Opal. 


Thetis'-hair  stone,  see 

Quartz. 
Thomsonite. 
Thulite,  see  Epidote. 
Tiger-eye,   see  Crocido- 

lite. 

Titanite. 
Toad's-eye    stone,    see 

Cassiterite. 
Topaz. 
Topaz      (false),     see 

Quartz. 
Topaz    (Oriental),    see 

Corundum. 

Topaz    (Saxon),  see 
"  Quartz. 

Topaz  (Scotch), see 
"Quartz. 
Topaz   (smoky),  see 

Quartz. 
Topaz  (Spanish),  see 

Quartz. 

Topazolite,  see  Garnet. 
Touchstone,  see  Quartz. 
Tourmaline. 
Turkis,  see  Turquoise. 
Turquoise. 
Turquoise    (bone),   see 

Odontolite. 
Turquoise     (fossil),    see 

Odontolite. 
Uralian     emerald,     see 

Garnet. 
Utahite,  see  Variscite. 


Appendix 


291 


Variolite,  see  Ortho- 
clase. 

Variscite. 

Venus'-hair  stone  see 
Quartz. 

Verde  antique,  see  Ser- 
pentine. 

Vesuvianite. 

Volcanic  glass,  see  Ob- 
sidian. 

Vulpinite,  see  Anhydrite. 

Water  sapphire,  see  lo- 
lite. 


Wernerite,  see  Sea  po- 
lite. 

Willemite. 

Wilsonite,  see  S  o  a  p  o- 
lite. 

Wiluite,  see  Garnet. 

Wolf's-eye  stone,  see 
Crocidolite. 

Wood  tin,  see  Cassite- 
rite. 

Zircon. 

Zonochlorite,  see  Preh- 
nite. 


LIST  OF  IMPORTANT  GEMS  ACCORDING  TO 
COLOURS 


Black 

Quartz  (Smoky). 

Andalusite. 

Diamond. 

Tourmaline 

Green 

Garnet. 

Quartz. 

Diamond. 

Jet. 

Emerald. 

Onyx. 

Oriental  Emerald. 

Gadolinite. 

Peridot. 

Samarskite. 

Chrysoberyl. 

Tourmaline. 

Blue 

Dioptase. 

Diamond. 

Topaz. 

Sapphire. 

Garnet. 

Tourmaline  (Indicolite). 

Aquamarine. 

Topaz. 

Euclase. 

Beryl. 

Hiddenite. 

lolite. 

Malachite. 

Turquoise. 

Variscite. 

Lapis-Lazuli. 

Jade  and  Jadeite. 

Chrysoprase. 

Brown. 

Heliotrope. 

Diamond. 

Plasma. 

Hyacinth. 

Pink 

Garnet. 

Tourmaline. 

Diamond. 

292 


Gems  According  to  Colours       293 


Spinel. 

Ruby. 

Beryl. 

Topaz  (Heated), 

Tourmaline. 

Red 

Diamond. 

Ruby. 

Spinel. 

Garnet. 

Tourmaline. 

Rhodonite. 

Fire  Opal. 

Carnelian. 

Jasper. 

Violet 

Diamond. 
Amethyst. 
Sapphire. 
Spinel. 


White 


Opal. 
Jade. 


Yellow 

Diamond. 
Topaz. 
Chrysolite. 

Corundum  (Oriental  To- 
paz). 
Spinel. 
Beryl. 
Amber. 
Chrysoberyl. 
Garnet. 
Hyacinth. 
Quartz  (Citrine). 

Colourless 

Diamond. 

Zircon. 

Corundum. 

Beryl. 

Topaz. 

Rock  Crystal. 

Tourmaline. 

Spinel. 

Phenacite. 


DICHROISM— A    LIST    OF    LEADING    TWIN- 
COLOURED  GEMS 

Among  the  more  important  gems  that  display 
twin  colours  are  these  listed  by  A.  H.  Church  in 
Precious  Stones  as  follows: 


NAME  OF  STONE. 


TWIN  COLOURS. 


Sapphire       (blue), 

Greenish-straw, 

Blue. 

Euby             (red), 

Aurora-red, 

Carmine-red. 

Tourmaline  (red), 

Salmon, 

Rose-pink. 

"           (brownish-red), 

Umber-Brown, 

Columbine-red. 

"           (brown), 

Orange-brown, 

Greenish  -yellow. 

«           (green), 

Pistachio-green, 

Bluish-green. 

(blue), 

Greenish-grey, 

Indigo-blue. 

Topaz            (sherry), 

Straw-yellow, 

Rose-pink. 

Peridot          (  pistachio)  , 

Brown-yellow, 

Sea-green. 

Aquamarine  (sea-green), 

Straw-  white, 

Grey-blue. 

Beryl             (pale-blue), 

Sea-green, 

Azure. 

Chrysoberyl  (yellow), 

Golden-brown, 

Greenish-yellow. 

lolite, 

Pale-buff, 

Indigo-blue. 

Amethyst, 

Reddish-purple, 

Bluish-purple. 

THE  MOHS  TABLE  OF  HARDNESS 

(Progressing  from  soft  to  hard.) 

1.  Talc  6.  Feldspar 

2.  Gypsum  7.  Quartz 

3.  Calcite  8.  Topaz 

4.  Fluorite  9.  Corundum 
6.  Apatite  10.  Diamond 


TABLE  OF  HARDNESS  OF  GEM  MINERALS 
(From  hard  to  soft.) 


Diamond 

10 

Vesuvianite 

6.5 

Corundum  (Ruby 

Epidote 

6.5 

and  Sapphire) 

9 

Prehnite 

6.5 

Chrysoberyl 

8.5 

Pyrite 

6.5 

Topaz 

8 

Feldspar   (Ama- 

Spinel (B  a  1  a  s 

zon-stone, 

Ruby) 

8-7.75 

Moonstone, 

Phenacite 

7.75 

Labradorite) 

6 

Beryl   (Emerald, 

Turquoise 

6 

Aquamarine) 

7.75 

Diopside 

6 

Zircon      (Hya- 

Nephrite 

5.75 

cinth) 

7.5 

Opal 

5.5-6.5 

Euclase 

7.5 

Moldavite 

5.5 

Staurolite 

7.5 

Obsidian 

5.5 

Andalusite 

7.25 

Hematite 

5.5 

lolite 

7.25 

Sphene 

5.5 

Tourmaline 

7.25 

Lapis-Lazuli 

5.5 

Garnet 

7 

Haiiynite 

5.5 

Quartz     (A  m  e- 

Cyanite 

5-7 

thyst,  Jasper, 

Dioptase 

5 

Rock  Crystal) 

7 

Fluorite 

4 

Jadeite 

6.75 

Malachite 

3.5 

Axinite 

6.75 

Jet 

3.5 

Chalcedony 

Amber 

2.5 

(Agate     and 

Gypsum     (Ala- 

Carnelian) 

6.5 

baster    and 

Chrysolite 

6.5 

Satin  Spar) 

2 

296 

TABLE  SHOWING  SPECIFIC   GRAVITY  OF 
GEM  MINERALS 

(Decreasing  from  high  to  low.) 


Zircon      (Hya- 

Vesuvianite 

3.35-3.45 

cinth) 

4.60-4.70 

Sphene 

3.35-3.45 

Almandine 

Chrysolite 

3.33-3.37 

Garnet 

4.11-4.23 

Jadeite 

3.30 

Ruby 

4.08 

Axinite 

3.29-3.30 

Sapphire 

4.06 

Diopside 

3.20-3.30 

Cape      Ruby 

Dioptase 

3.29 

(Garnet) 

3.86 

Andalusite 

3.17-3.19 

Demantoid 

Apatite 

3.16-3.22 

(Garnet) 

3.83 

Hiddenite 

3.15-3.20 

Staurolite 

3.73-3.74 

Green  and  Blue 

Pyrope      (Gar- 

Tourmaline 

3.11-3.16 

net) 

3.60-3.65 

Euclase 

3.05 

Chrysoberyl 

3.68-3.78 

Fluospar 

3.02-3.19 

Cyanite 

3.60-3.70 

Nephrite 

3.00 

Cinnamon 

Phenacite 

2.98-3.00 

Stone    (Gar- 

Red         and 

net) 

3.60-3.65 

Colourless 

Spinel     (Balas 

Tourmaline 

2.94-3.08 

Ruby) 

3.60-3.63 

Turquoise 

2.60-2.80 

Topaz 

3.50-3.56 

Labrador*  te 

2.70 

Diamond 

3.50-3.52 

Beryl 

2.68-2.75 

Epidotc 

3.35-3.50 

Emerald 

2.67 

297 


298  Specific  Gravity  of  Gem  Minerals 


Rock  Crystal 

Obsidian 

2.50-2.60 

Smoky  Quartz 

Moonstone 

Amethyst 

2.65-2.66 

(Adularia) 

2.55 

Jasper 

Lapis-lazuli 

2.40 

Chrysoprase 

Moldavite 

2.36 

lolite                   2.60-2.65 

Opal 

2.19-2.20 

Chalcedony 

2.60 

Jet 

1.35 

Agate 

Amber 

1.00-1.11 

REFRACTION 

The  refractive  indices  of  the  more  important  pre- 
cious and  semi-precious  stones  are  given  in  the 
following  table,  the  values  for  singly  refracting 
stones  being  indicated  by  n,  and  the  greatest  and 
least  values  for  doubly  refracting  stones  by  n  y  and 
n  z,  respectively.  In  both  cases  the  values  apply  to 
the  middle  rays  of  the  spectrum.  The  strength  of 
the  double  refraction  of  each  stone  is  indicated  by 
d-n  y — n  z,  that  is,  by  the  difference  between  the 
greatest  and  the  least  refractive  indices  of  the 
stone. 

SINGLY    REFRACTING    PRECIOUS    AND   SEMI-PRECIOUS 
STONES 


Diamond 
Pyrope 
Almandine 
Hessonite 


2.43  Spinel 

1.79  Opal 

1.77  Fluor-spar 
1.74 


n 

1.72 
1.48 
1.44 


Refraction  299 


DOUBLY    REFRACTING    PRECIOUS   AND   SEMI-PRECIOUS 
STONES 


n  y 

n  z 

d 

Zircon 

1.97 

1.92 

0.05 

Ruby          ) 
Sapphire    £ 

1.77 

1.76 

0.01 

Chrysoberyl 

1.76 

1.75 

0.01 

Chrysolite 

1.70 

1.66 

0.04 

Tourmaline 

1.64 

1.62 

0.02 

Topaz 

1.63 

1.62 

0.01 

Beryl 

1.58 

1.57 

0.01 

Quartz 

1.55 

1.54 

0.01 

TRANSPARENCY  OF  GEMS  UNDER  RONT- 
GEN  (X)  RAYS 


Completely  transparent 
Amber 
Jet 
Diamond 


Slightly  transparent 
Spinel 

Essonite   (Garnet) 
Fluorite 


Strongly  transparent 
Corundum 

Transparent 
Opal 

Andalusite 
Cyamite 
Chrysoberyl 

Semi  -tran  sparent 
Quartz 
Labradorite 
Adularia 
Topaz 


Almost  opaque 
Gypsum 
Turquoise 
Tourmaline 
Calcite 

Opaque 

Almandite  (Garnet) 

Beryl 

Epidote 

Rutile 

Hematite 

Pyrite 

Zircon 


300 


A   CARAT'S   WEIGHT   IN  VARIOUS 
LOCALITIES 

The  weight  of  a  carat  is  rated  differently  in  vari- 
ous localities  where  the  diamond  industry  is  im- 
portant. On  an  average,  the  carat  does  not  differ 
in  value  much  from  the  fifth  of  a  gram  of  the 
metric  system  (200  milligrams),  or  about  three  and 
one  sixth  English  grains. 

The  fractions  of  the  carat  used  in  weighing  pre- 
cious stones  are  %,  *4,  ys,  and  so  on  down  to  one 
sixty-fourth;  this  fraction  of  a  carat  of  205  milli- 
grams is  equal  to  3.203  milligrams.  The  fourth 
part  of  a  carat  is  known  as  a  grain;  not  a  Troy 
weight  grain,  however,  but  a  "  pearl  grain " ;  al- 
though this  is  rarely  used  as  a  unit.  In  France 
144  carats  equal  one  ounce.  Efforts  are  continu- 
ally being  made  to  reconcile  these  variations  of 
weight  in  the  use  of  the  term  "  carat,"  and  also  to 
substitute  the  gram  of  the  metric  system  for  the 
carat,  and  it  is  hoped  that  eventually  the  weighing 

of  precious  stones  may  be  universally  standardised. 
301 


302     Carat's  Weight  in  Various  Localities 


The  exact  values  in  milligrams  of  the  carat  at 
different  places  are  tabulated  as  follows: 


LOCALITY 

Amboina 

Florence 

New  York 

Batavia 

Borneo 

Leipzig 

Spain 

London 

Berlin 

Paris 

Amsterdam 

Antwerp 

Lisbon 

Frankfurt-am-Main 

Venice 

Vienna 

Madras 

Livorno 


MILLIGRAMS 
197.000 
197.200 
205.000 
205.000 
205.000 
205.000 
205.393 
205.409 
205.440 
205.500 
205.700 
205.300 
205.750 
205.770 
207.000 
206.130 
207.353 
215.990 


An  International  Committee  of  Weights  and 
Measures  has  finally  adopted  the  recommendations 
of  the  various  associations  of  jewellers  and  dia- 
mond merchants,  and  has  officially  sanctioned  a 
fixed  uniform  weight  value  of  200  milligrams  for 
the  carat. 

The  carat,  as  a  weight  (it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  word  Karat  is  also  used  in  the  jewelry 
trade  to  denote  the  fineness  of  gold),  is  used  for 
weighing  the  precious  stones.  The  weights  of  some 


Carat's  Weight  in  Various  Localities     303 

semi-precious  stones  in  the  trade  are  reckoned  in 
pennyweights.  Pearls  are  weighed  and  their  values 
calculated  by  the  grain  (!/£  carat).  Diamonds  are 
designated  in  the  trade  as  "  grainers,"  "  two  grain- 
ers," etc. ;  a  "  four  grainer  "  is  a  diamond  weighing 
one  carat.  The  practice  in  the  United  States  has 
been  to  calculate  the  carat  at  205  milligrams  or 
3.210  grains  Troy.  The  new  metric  carat,  which 
will  probably  eventually  become  the  universally 
recognised  standard,  will  weigh  200  milligrams  or 
3.130  grains. 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

SYSTEMS  OF  CRYSTALLINE  FORM 

1.  The  Cubic  System          with  9  planes  of  symmetry 

2.  The  Hexagonal  System     "   7      "  " 

3.  The  Tetragonal  System      "    5      "  « 

4.  The  Rhombic  System        «   3      «  « 

5.  The  Monoclinic  System      "    3      "  " 

5.  The  Monoclinic  System      "    1      "  " 

6.  The  Triclinic  System         "    0      "  « 

"  BIRTH-STONES  " 

A    RHYMING    LIST   OF    NATAL    GEMS    POPULARLY    IDENTI- 
FIED  WITH   THE    MONTHS 

(Substantially  as  published  by  Wirt  Tassin  and 
other  authorities) 

JANUARY 

By  those  in  January  born 

No  gem  save  garnet  should  be  worn; 


304  Birth  Stones 

It  will  insure  you  constancy, 
True  friendship  and  fidelity. 


FEBRUARY 


The  February  born  shall  find, 
Sincerity  and  peace  of  mind — 
Freedom  from  passion  and  from  care, 
If  they  the  amethyst  will  wear. 


Who  in  this  world  of  ours  their  eyes 
In  March  first  open,  shall  be  wise, 
In  days  of  peril  firm  and  brave, 
And  wear  the  bloodstone  to  their  grave. 

APRIL 

Those  who  in  April  date  their  years, 
Sapphires  should  wear,  lest  bitter  tears 
For  vain  repentance  flow.     This  stone 
Emblem  of  faithfulness  is  known. 

MAT 

Who  first  beholds  the  light  of  day 
In  spring's  sweet  flowery  month  of  May, 
And  wears  an  emerald  all  her  life, 
Shall  be  a  loveTTancThappy  wife. 

JUNE 

Who  comes  with  summer  to  this  earth, 
And  owes  to  June  her  day  of  birth, 


Birth  Stones  305 

With  ring  of  agate  on  her  hand, 

Can  health,  with  wealth,  and  peace  command. 


JULY 

The  glowing  ruby  should  adorn 
Those  who  in  July  are  born ; 
Thus  they  shall  be  exempt  and  free 
From  all  love's  doubts  and  jealousy. 

AUGUST 

Wear  a  sardonyx,  or  for  thee 

Xo  conjugal  felicity; 

The  August-born,  without  this  stone, 

'T  is  said  must  live  unloved  and  lone. 

SEPTEMBER 

A  maiden  born  when  autumn's  leaves 
Are  rustling  in.  September's  breeze, 
Chrysolite  on  her  brow  should  bind, 


unrysouu 
^will  cu 


cure  affections  of  the  mind. 

OCTOBER 

October's  child  is  born  for  woe, 
And  life's  vicissitudes  must  know; 
But  lay  an  opal  on  her  breast, 
And  hope  will  lull  the  woes  to  rest. 

NOVEMBER 

Who  first  comes  to  this  world  below 
With  dull  November's  fog  and  snow, 


306  Birth  Stones 

Should  wear  top  as  of  amber  hue, 
Emblem  of  friends  and  lovers  true. 


DECEMBER 


If  cold  December  gave  you  birth, 
The  month  of  snow  and  ice  and  mirth, 
Place  on  your  hand  a  turguoi-se^  blue — 
Success  will  bless  whate'er  you  do. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 

SINCE  one  book  cannot  possibly  comprehend  all 
the  phases  of  a  large  subject,  it  may  be  of  service 
to  some  of  our  readers  to  supply  a  full  bibliography, 
like  that  which  follows,  a  bibliography  that  will 
enable  them  easily  to  acquire  information  on  special 
phases,  or  advance  to  a  liberal  education  on  the 
entire  subject.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  an 
absorption  and  assimilation  of  all  that  was  ever 
printed  about  gems,  even  with  the  aid  of  illustra- 
tions— line,  half-tone,  and  colour-work  of  the  most 
advanced  stage  of  reproductive  pictorial  art — can- 
not thoroughly  inform  the  student  without  close 
study  of  the  gem  stones  and  cut  gems  themselves. 

The  most  comprehensive  book  about  gems  ever 
written  is  undoubtedly  Precious  Stones  by  Dr.  Max 
Bauer.  The  original  of  this  monumental  work  was 
first  published  in  parts  under  the  title  Edelstein- 
kunde  in  1895  and  1896,  in  Germany,  but  was  sub- 
sequently translated  into  English  by  L.  J.  Spencer, 
of  the  mineral  department  of  the  British  Museum, 
and  published  in  1904  in  London,  and  a  little  later 
in  this  country.  With  interest,  pride,  and  pleasure 
Americans  may  read  the  initial  sentence  of  Dr. 
307 


308  Bibliography 

Bauer's  introduction  to  his  book,  as  follows :  "  The 
desire  of  the  publishers  to  present  to  the  German 
public  a  work  on  precious  stones,  similar  in  char- 
acter to  that  admirably  supplied  in  American 
literature  by  George  Frederic  Kunz's  Gems  and 
Precious  Stones  of  North  America,  gave  the  initia- 
tive to  the  writing  of  the  present  book."  That  the 
foremost  expert  on  American  gems  should  be  an 
American,  designated  as  its  official  authority  by 
the  United  States  Government,  and  accepted  as  such 
abroad,  and  that  this  American  should  possess  the 
literary  ability  to  disseminate  the  knowledge  he 
has  gathered  in  a  popular  as  well  as  strictly  scien- 
tific fashion,  and  should  have  directly  caused  the 
production  of  the  most  authoritative  book  on  the 
gem  subject,  may  be  a  source  of  satisfaction  to 
his  compatriots  who  are  patriotic  in  all  things  as 
well  as  admirers  of  gems. 

The  basis  of  much  of  the  information  extant 
about  gems  is  the  old,  but  reliable  and  still  stand- 
ard, A  System  of  Mineralogy,  by  James  Dwight 
Dana,  published  in  1837,  in  New  Haven,  Conn. 
This  text-book,  supplemented  with  Bauer's  great 
book,  and  with  the  addition  of  Kunz's  Gems  and 
Precious  Stones  of  North  America  to  cover  the 
phase  of  the  general  subject  involving  American 
gems,  contains  all  important  facts  about  gems  and 
gem  minerals,  exclusive  of  recent  mineralogical  and 
other  pertinent  scientific  discoveries.  A  valuable 
associate  to  this  trio  would  be  the  Descriptive 
Catalogue  of  the  Collections  of  Gems  in  the  United 
States  National  Museum,  by  Wirt  Tassin,  Assistant 
Curator  of  the  Division  of  Mineralogy.  This  was 
reprinted  by  the  Government  Printing  Office  at 


Bibliography  309 

Washington,  in  1902,  from  The  Report  of  the  United 
States  National  Museum  for  1900.  This  report  is 
out  of  print  as  a  separate  publication,  but  would 
be  available  through  the  acquisition  of  the  annual 
report  named,  or  should  be  obtainable  in  any 
extensive  public  library. 

The  following  bibliography  combines  two  lists  of 
works  on  the  subject  in  hand  compiled  respectively 
by  Mr.  A.  P.  Griffin,  Chief  Bibliographer  of  the 
Division  of  Bibliography,  Library  of  Congress,  and 
Mr.  Wirt  Tassin,  to  both  of  whom  the  author 
gratefully  acknowledges  his  indebtedness. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ABDALAZIZ  (AHMED  BEN).    Treatise  on  jewels. 

ABEN  EZRA  (RABBI).  Commentarium  in  Decalogum. 
Basel  (Basle),  1527. 

ABICH   (H.).    De  Spinello.     Berolini   (Berlin),  1831. 

ADLER  (C.,  and  CASANOWICZ).  Precious  stones  of  the 
Bible.  [In  Biblical  Antiquities,  Report,  U.  S.  Na- 
tional Museum,  1896,  p.  943.] 

AGOSTINI  (L.).  Gemmse  et  sculpturse  antiquae.  Frane- 
querae  (Franecker),  1699. 

AGRICOLA  (G.).  De  ortu  et  causis  subterraneorum  de  na- 
tura  corum  quse,  effluunt  ex  Terra.  Basel  (Basle), 
1558. 

AQRIPPA  (H.  C.).  Philosophic  occulte.  [Translated  by 
Levasseur.]  La  Haye  (The  Hague),  1655.  Contains 
material  relating  to  the  mystical  properties  of  gems. 

ALAMUS  AB  INSULIS  (ALAIN  DE  LISLE).  Dicta  alam,  etc. 
Lugduni-Batavorum  (Leyden),  1599.  An  alchemical 
treatise  containing  material  relating  to  the  mystical 
properties  of  gems.  A  lamus  ab  Insulis,  b.  1114,  d. 
1202,  was  the  earliest  Flemish  alchemist. 

ALBERTUS  MAGNUS.  Die  mineralibus.  [In  his  opera,  v. 
ii.]  Lugduni  (Leyden),  1651. 


310  Bibliography 


ALBERTUS  (Cont.).  De  Vertutibus  herbarum,  lapidum 
animalum,  etc.  Various  editions. 

.  Les  admirable  secrets  d'  Albert  le  grand,  etc.  Lyon, 

1758.  Contains  extracts  from  the  works  of  Albertus 
Magnus,  relating  to  the  magical  and  medicinal  prop- 
erties of  gems. 

ALCOT  (T.).  Gems,  talismans,  and  guardians.  New 
York,  1886. 

ANDRADA  (M.  D').  An  account  of  the  diamonds  of  Brazil. 
[In  Nicholson's  Journal,  i.,  1797,  24.] 

ANTIDOTARIO  DE  FRA  D.  n'E.  Napoli  (Naples),  1639.  A 
treatise  on  pharmacy,  containing  a  few  accounts  of 
the  virtues  of  gems. 

ARGENVILLE.     Traite  de  I'Oryctologie.    Paris,  1740. 

ARGENVILLE  (A.  J.  D.  D').  De  I'Histoire  Naturelle  eclairde 
dans  deux  de  ses  parties  principales:  la  Lithologie  et 
la  Conchologie.  Paris,  1742. 

ARISTOTLE.  His  works,  especially  the  Meteorology  and 
Wonderful  things  heard  of.  Aristotle  was  born  about 
384  B.C.,  and  died  about  322  B.C. 

.  Lapidarius.  [De  novo  Graeco  translatus,  Lucas 

Brandis.]  Regia  Mersbourg  (Merseburg),  1473. 

ARNALDUS  DE  VILLANOVA.  Chymische  schriften,  etc.  [Trans- 
lated by  Johannem  Hippdamum.]  Wien  (Vienna), 
1742.  See  also:  Hermetischer  Rosenkranz,  Pretiosa 
Margarita,  Manget,  Theatrum  Chemicum,  etc.  The 
several  writings  of  this  alchemist  (also  called  Villano- 
vanus,  Arnald  Bachuone,  A.  de  Villeneuve,  and 
Arnaldus  Novicomensis)  contain  much  concerning 
the  occult,  medicinal,  and  other  properties  of  gems. 

ARNOBIO  (CLEANDRE).  De  Tesoro  delle  Gioie,  trattato 
maraviglioso.  Venit.  (Venice),  1602. 

ATHANAEUS.  Deiphriosophistse  [Banquet  des  Philosophes], 
translated  by  Dalechamp.  Paris,  1873. 

AUBREY  (J.).  Miscellanies.  London,  1857.  Contains  an 
account  of  the  use  of  the  beryl  in  divination. 

AVICENNA  (ABOU-ALI-ALHUSSEIN-BEN-ADLOULAH).  Ca- 
nonnes  Medicines,  [Lat.  reddit.]  Ven.  (Venice), 
1843.  Contains  material  relating  to  the  medicinal 
and  magical  virtues  of  gems. 


Bibliography  31 1 


BABELON  (ERNEST).  La  gravure  on  pierres  fines  camees 
etintailles.  Paris:  Quentin  [1894].  320pp.  Illustra- 
tions. 8°.  (Bibliotheque  de  1'ensoignement  des 
beaux-arts.) 

.  Histoire  de  la  gravure  sur  gemmes  en  France  de- 

puis  Us  origines  jusqu'  a  I'epoque  contemporaine ; 
ouvrage  illustre  de  gravures  dans  le  texte  et  accom- 
pagne  de  XXII  planches  en  pkototypie.  Paris;  Societe 
de  propagation  des  livres  d'art,  1902.  [iii]-xx.,  262 
pp.  (2),  Illustrations.  XXII  plates.  4°. 

BABINGTON  (CHARLES).  A  systematic  arrangement  of 
minerals,  their  chemical,  physical,  and  external  char- 
acters. London,  1795. 

BACCI  (ANDREA).  Le  XII  Pietre  preziose.  Roma  (Rome), 
1587. 

.  De  Gemmis  et  Lapidibus  pretiosis,  tractatus  ex 

Ital  Lingua  Lat.  red.  Francof.  (Frankfurt),  1605. 

.  De  Gemmis  ac  Lapidibus  pretiosis  in  S.  Scriptura. 

Roma  (Rome),  1577;  8°,  Franc.  (Frankfurt),  1628. 

BACON  (ROGER).  Opera  Qusedam  hactenus  inedita.  [Ed- 
ited by  J.  S.  Brewer.]  London,  1859.  The  appendix 
— Epistola  .  .  .  de  secretis  operibus  artis  et  natura? — 
contains  some  material  relating  to  the  magical  and 
alchemical  virtues  of  certain  gems. 

BALL  (V.).  On  the  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  India.  [In 
Geology  of  India,  3  vols.,  pp.  1-50,  1881.] 

.  On  the  mode  of  occurrence  and  distribution  of  dia- 
monds in  India.  [In  Proc.  R.  Dublin  Soc.,  ii.,  p.  551 ; 
also  Jour.  R.  Geol.  Soc.  Ireland,  vi.,  p.  10.] 

.  On  the  geology  of  the  Mahanadi  basin  and  its 

vicinity.  [In  Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
India,  x.,  p.  167:  map.] 

.    A  manual  of  the  geology  of  India.    Calcutta,  1881. 

.  On  the  identification  of  certain  diamond  mines 

in  India  which  were  known  and  worked  by  the  an- 
cients, especially  those  visited  by  Tavernier.  With  a 
note  on  the  history  of  the  Koh-i-nur.  [In  Journal  of 
the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  1.,  1881,  p.  31;  Report 
British  Association  for  1882,  p.  625;  and  Nature, 
xxiii.,  p.  490,  1882.] 


312  Bibliography 

BALL  (Cont.).  On  the  diamond,  etc.,  of  the  Samb'alpur 
district.  [In  Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
India,  x.,  p.  186:  map.] 

BAPST  (G.).  Les  joyaux  de  la  couronne.  [In  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes,  1886,  p.  861.] 

BARBET  (Ch.).  Traite  complet  des  pierres  precieuses. 
Paris,  1858. 

BARBET  DE  JOUY  (HENRI).  Les  gemmes  et  joyaux  de  la 
couronne  au  Musee  du  Louvre;  expliques  par  M.  Bar- 
bet  de  Jouy  .  .  .  dessines  et  graves  a  1'eau-forte 
d'apres  les  originaux  par  J.  Jacquemart  .  .  .  intro- 
duction par  A.  Darcel.  Paris:  L.  Tochener  1886. 
(12)  pp.,  60  plates.  F°. 

BARRERA  (Mme.  DE).     Gems  and  jewels.     London,  1860. 

BAUER   (MAX).    Edelsteinkunde.     Leipzig,  1896. 

.  Precious  stones.  Translated  from  the  German 

of  the  above  with  additions  by  L.  J.  Spencer. 
London:  C.  Griffin  and  Company,  1904,  xv.,  (1), 
627  pp.  Illustrations.  Plates  (partly  colored).  8°. 
Philadelphia,  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  1904. 

BAUMER  (J.  W.).  Historia  Naturalias  Lapidum  precio- 
sorum  omnium,  etc.  Franc.  (Frankfurt),  1771. 

.  Naturgeschichte  aller  Edelstein,  wie  auch  der  Erde 

und  Steine,  so  bisher  zur  artznei  sind  gebraucht 
warden.  Aus  dem  Latein  von  Karl,  Freih.  von 
Meidinger.  Wien  (Vienna),  1774. 

BAUMHAUER  (E.  H.  VON).  Diamonds.  [In  Ann.  Phys. 
Chem.,  2  ser.,  i.,  1877,  p.  462.] 

BEARD  (C.  P.).    Traite  des  pierres  precieuses.    Paris,  1808. 

BECHAI  BEN  ASCHAR.  Biur  al  Hattorah — Exposition  of 
the  Law  of  Moses,  a  commentary  on  Exodus  xxviii., 
17-20.  A.M.  5207  (A.D.  1447).  Contains  an  ac- 
count of  the  virtues  and  properties  of  gems. 

BECKER  (JOHANN  JOACHIM).  Physica  Subterranea.  Lip- 
siae  (Leipzig),  1739.  An  alchemical  work. 

BECK  (R.).  Die  diamantenlager  stdtte  von  Newland  in 
Griqualand  West.  [In  Zeits.  fur  Prakt.  Geol.,  1898, 
p.  158.] 

BEHRENS  (Tn.  H.).  Sur  la  crystallisation  du  diamant. 
[In  Arch.  Neerl.,  xvi.,  p.  376,  1881.] 


Bibliography  313 

BEKKERHEIM  (KARL).  Krystallographie  des  Miner  air  eich». 
Wien  (Vienna),  1793. 

BELLEAU  (RENE).  Les  amours  et  nouveaux  echanges  des 
pierres  precieuses.  Paris,  1576. 

BELLERMAN  (J.  J.).  Die  Urim  und  Thummin.  Berlin, 
1824. 

BENIAM  (MUTAPHIA).  Sententiis  sacro  medicis.  Ham- 
burg, 1640.  Contains  material  relating  to  the  astro- 
logical virtues  of  gems. 

BERQUEN  (ROBERT  DE).  Les  Merveilles  des  Indes  Orien- 
tates et  Occidentales,  ou  nouveau.  Traite  des  Pierres 
precieuses,  et  des  Perles.  Paris,  1661. 

BESONDERE.  Geheimnisse  eines  wahren  Adepti  von  der 
Alchymie,  etc.  Dresden,  1757.  An  alchemical  treat- 
ise. 

BEUMEMBERGER  (J.  G.).  Der  Volkomene  Juwelier.  Wei- 
mar, 1828. 

BIELHE  (VON).  Ueber  die  Bernstein-Grdbereien  in  Hinter 
Pommern.  Berlin,  1802. 

BILLING  (A).  Science  of  gems,  coins,  and  medals.  New 
York,  1875. 

BIRDWOOD  (G.  C.  M.).  Industrial  arts  of  India.  Vol.  ii., 
pp.  17-32,  1881. 

BISHOP  (HEBER  REGINALD).  The  Bishop  collection;  in- 
vestigations and  studies  in  jade.  New  York,  1900. 
(6),  378  pp.  8°.  Bibliography,  pp.  367-370. 

BLEASDALE  (J.  J.).  Gems  and  precious  stones  found  in 
Victoria.  [In  an  essay  in  Official  Record,  Inter-Colo- 
nial Exhibition,  Melbourne,  1867.] 

BLUM  (J.  R.).  Verzeichniss  der  geschnitten  Steine  in 
dem  Konigl  Museum  zu  Berlin.  Berlin,  1827. 

.  Lithurgik,  oder  mineralien  und  Felsarten  nach 

ihrer  Anwendung  in  Oekon.,  artist,  und  Technischer 
Hinsicht  systematische  abgehandelt.  Stutgart,  1840. 

BLUM    (R.).,     Die  Schmucksteine.     Heidelberg,  1828. 

.     Taschenbuch  der  Edelsteinkunde.     Stutgart,  1840. 

BLUMENBERG.    Dissertatio  Medica  de  Succino.     Jena,  1682. 

BLUMHOF  (J.  C.).  Lehrbuch  der  Lithurgik.  Frankfurt, 
1822. 

BOETIUS  (ANSELMUS).     Tractatus  de  Lapidibus. 


314  Bibliography 


BOLNEST  (E.).  Aurora  chymica,  or  a  rational  way  of 
preparing  animals,  vegetables,  and  minerals  for  a  phys- 
ical use;  by  which  preparations  they  are  made  most 
efficacious,  safe,  pleasant  medicines  for  the  preserva- 
tion and  restoration  of  the  life  of  man.  London, 
1672. 

BONDARY  (JEAN  DE  LA  TAILLE  DE).  Blason  des  Pierres 
precieuses. 

Booke  of  the  Thinges  that  are  brought  from  the  West 
Indies.  [English  translation,  1580.]  1574.  Con- 
tains an  account  of  the  virtues  of  the  bloodstone. 

BOOT  (ANSELMUS  BOETIUS  DE).  Le  parfaict  joaillier,  ou 
histoire  des  Pierres,  de  nouveau  enrichi  de  belles 
annotations  par  Andre  Toll.  [Translated  from  Latin 
by  J.  Bachou]  Lyon,  1644. 

.     Gemmarum  et  Lapidum  Historia.    Hanover,  1690. 

BOOT  (B.  DE).  Lap.  Gemmarum  et  Lapidum  Historia. 
Jena,  1647.  The  first  edition  published  at  Jena  in 
1609;  the  second  enlarged  by  A.  Toll,  Lugduni  Bat. 
[Leyden],  1636,  contains  much  concerning  the  mys- 
tical and  medicinal  properties  of  gems. 

BORDEAUX  (A.).  Les  mines  de  I'Afrique  du  Sud.  Paris, 
1898. 

BORN  (BARON  INIGO).  Schneckensteine,  oder  die  Sachs- 
ischen  Topasfelsen.  Brag,  1776. 

BOURNON  (CoMTE  DE).  An  analytical  description  of  the 
crystalline  forms  of  corundum  from  the  East  Indies 
and  China.  [In  Phil.  Trans.:  Abr.,  xviii.,  p.  368, 
1798.] 

.  Description  of  the  corundum  stone,  and  its  varieties, 

commonly  known  as  oriental  ruby,  sapphire,  etc.  [In 
Phil.  Trans.,  1801,  p.  223.] 

.  A  descriptive  catalogue  of  diamonds  in  the  cabinet 

of  Sir  Abraham  Hume.  London,  1815. 

BOUTAN  (M.  E.).  Diamant.  [In  Fremy's  Encyclopedic 
Chimique.] 

.  Le  Diamant.  Paris,  1886.  Contains  a  very  full 

bibliography. 

BOYLE    (ROBERT).    Experiments  and  considerations  upon 


Bibliography  3T5 

color,  with  considerations  on  a  diamond  that  shines 
in  the  dark.  London,  1663. 

.  Essay  about  the  origin  and  virtues  of  gems.  [In 

his  works,  v.  iii.,  1772.] 

.  Exercitatio  de  origine  et  viribus  gemmarum.  Lon- 
don, 1673. 

.  An  essay  about  the  origin  and  virtues  of  gems, 

with  some  conjectures  about  the  consistence  of  the 
matter  of  precious  stones.  London,  1672.  [Another 
edition  in  1673.] 

BRARD  (C.  P.).  Traite  des  Pierres  Precieuses,  des  Por- 
phyres,  Granits  et  autres  Roches  propres  d  recevoir 
le  poli.  1808. 

.     Mineralogie  appliquee  aux  arts.     Paris,  1321. 

BRITISH  MUSEUM.  Catalogue  of  Gems  in  the  British 
Museum  (Department  of  Greek  and  Roman  An- 
tiquities) .  1888. 

BRITTEN  (EMMA  H.).  Art  Magic;  or  mundane,  submun- 
dane,  and  supermundane  spiritism.  Contains  ac- 
counts of  mystical  properties  of  gems. 

BRONGNIART  (ALEXANDRE).  Traite  de  mineralogie,  avec 
application  aux  arts.  Paris,  1807. 

BROWN  (C.  B.  and  J.  W.  JUDD).  The  rubies  of  Burma. 
[In  Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  clxxxvii.,  p.  151- 
228.]  A  very  elaborate  and  complete  account  of  the 
physical  features,  geology,  and  geographical  distribu- 
tion of  the  ruby-bearing  rocks  of  the  district. 

BRUCKMANN  (U.  F.  B.).  Abhandlung  von  Edelsteinen. 
Braunschweig  (Brunswick),  1757-73. 

.     A  treatise  on  precious  stones.     1775. 

.  Gesammelte  und  eigene  Beitrdge  zu  seiner  Abhand- 

lung  von  Edelsteinen.  Braunschweig  (Brunswick), 
1778. 

BUCHOZ  ( ).  Les  Dons  merveilleux  et  diversement 

calories  de  la  Nature  dans  le  Regne  Mineral.  Paris, 
1782. 

BUFFUM  (W.  A.).  The  tears  of  the  Heliades  or  amber 
as  a  gem.  New  York,  1900. 

BURCH   (A.).    Handbuch  fur  Juweliere.    Weimar,  1834. 

BURNHAM   (S.  M.).    Precious  stones.    Boston,  1886. 


316  Bibliography 

BURTON  (R.  F.).  Gold  and  diamond  mines.  [In  his  Ex- 
plorations of  the  Highlands  of  Brazil,  1869.] 

BUTLER  (G.  MONTAGUE).  A  Pocket  Handbook  of  Minerals. 
John  Wiley  &  Sons,  New  York. 

CADET  (LE  JEUNE).  Memorie  sur  les  Jaspes  et  autres 
Pierres  Precieuses  de  Vile  de  Corse.  Bastia,  1785. 

CAESALPINUS  (ANDREAS).  De  metallicis  Libri  tres.  Rom. 
(Rome),  1496. 

CAHAGNET  (L.  A.).  Magie  magnetique.  Paris,  1838.  A 
spiritualistic  work  containing  material  relating  to  the 
occult  properties  of  gems. 

CAIRE  (A.).  La  Science  des  pierres  precieuses  appliquee 
aux  arts.  Paris,  1833. 

CAPELLER  (MAUR.  ANT.).  Prodomus  crystallographix,  de 
crystallis  improprie  sic  dictis  commentarium.  Lu- 
cernae  (Lucerne),  1723. 

CARDANUS  (HIERONYMUS).  De  Lapidibus  preciosis;  also 
De  Subtilitate.  These  contain  accounts  of  the  magical 
and  medicinal  properties  of  gems. 

CAROSI  (JOHANN).  Sur  la  Generation  du  Silex  et  du 
Quartz.  Cracov,  1783. 

CARTON  (J.).  Englischen  Juwelier,  Kenntniss,  Werthund 
Preisschatzung  oiler  Edelsteine,  Perlen,  Corallen,  ins 
Deut.  ubersetzt  nach  der  10  ed.  Gratz,  1818. 

CASTELLANI  (A.).  Gems,  notes,  and  extracts.  [Trans- 
lated from  the  Italian,  by  Mrs.  J.  Brogden.]  Lon- 
don, 1871. 

Catalog  des  Bijoux  nationaux.    Paris,  1791. 

CATTELLE  (W.  R.).  The  Pearl.  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co., 
Philadelphia,  1907. 

CELLINI   (BENEVENUTO).    Trattato  del'  Oreficeria. 

.    Del  Arte  del  Gioiellare.     Fior.  (Florence),  1568. 

CHAFER  ( ).  Note  sur  la  region  diamantifere  de 

VAfrique  Australe.  Paris,  1880. 

.  On  the  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  India.  [Comptes 

Rendus,  1884,  p.  113.] 

CHAND   (GULAL).    Essay  on  diamonds.     Lucknow,  1881. 

Characteristics  and  Localities  of  the  Principal  Precious 
Stones.  Supplement  to  The  Jeweller's  Circular:  The 
Jeweller's  Circular  Publishing  Co.,  New  York. 


Bibliography  317 

CHURCH  (A.  H.).  Precious  and  curious  stones.  [In  Spec 
tator,  July  9,  1870.] 

.     Townsend   Collection.      [In    Quart.   Jour.    Science, 

Jan.,  1871.] 

.    Precious  stones.    London,  1882. 

.    Discrimination,  etc.,  of  precious  stones.     [In  Jour. 

Soc.  Arts.,  xxix.,  p.  439.] 

.    Physical  properties  of  precious  stones.     [In  Proc. 

Geol.  Assoc.,  v.,  No.  7.] 

.    Colours  of  precious  stones.     [In  Magazine  of  Art., 

i.,  p.  33.] 

CLAREMONT  (LEOPOLD).  Precious  stones.  Philadelphia 
and  London.  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  1903.  224 
pp.,  xix.  plates.  8°. 

— • — .  The  gem-cutter's  craft.  London.  G.  Bell  and 
Sons,  1906.  xv.,  (1),  296  pp.  Illustrations.  Plates. 
Tables.  8°. 

CLAUDER  (G).  Schediasma  de  tinctura  universali,  vulgo 
lapis  philosophorum  dicta,  etc.  Norimbergae  (Nurem- 
berg), 1736.  An  alchemical  treatise  containing  13 
folding  tables  having  a  list  of  minerals  with  their 
properties  grouped  under  the  following  heads:  No- 
men,  Substantia,  Color,  Pondus,  Natura,  Prseparatio, 
Tractatio,  Contenta. 

CLAVE  (ESTIENNE).  Paradoxes,  ou  Traittez  Philoso- 
phiques  des  Pierres  et  Pierreries,  contre  I'opinion 
volgaire.  Paris,  1635. 

CLUTIUS  (AuGERius).  Calsvee,  sive  Dissertatio  Lapidis 
Nephritici,  seu  jaspidis  viridis,  naturam,  proprietates, 
et  operationes  exhibens  Belgice.  [Amsterdam,  1621,  et 
Lat.  per  Gul.  Lauremberg,  fil.]  Rostochii  (Rostock), 
1627. 

COHEN  (E.).  Ueber  Capdiamanten.  [In  Neues  Jahr- 
buch,  i.,  p.  184,  1881.] 

COHEN  (M.).  Beschreibendes  Verzeichniss  einer  Samm- 
lung  von  Diamanten.  Wien  (Vienna),  1822. 

COLLINI  (COSMUS).  Journal  d'un  Voyage,  qui  contient 
differentes  observations  miner alogiques,  particulier- 
ment  sur  les  agates,  avec  un  detail  sur  la  meniere  de 
travailler  Its  agates.  Mannheim,  1776. 


318  Bibliography 

COLONNE  (FRANCOISE  MARIA  POMPEE)  .  Histoire  Naturelle 
de  I'Univers.  [4  vols.]  Paris,  1734. 

CORSI  (FAUST).  Delle  Piedre  antiche  libri  quattro.  Roma 
(Rome),  1828. 

CROLY  (G.)  Gems;  etched  by  R.  Dagley,  wiih  illust.,  in 
verse.  London,  1822. 

CROOKES  (Sm  W.).  Diamonds.  [In  Proc.  Roy.  Inst., 
1897,  p.  477.] 

CROOKES  (WILLIAM).  Diamonds.  [In  Report  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  1897,  p.  219.] 

.  On  radiant  matter.  [In  Chemical  News,  xl.,  pp. 

93,  104,  and  127.]  Contains  results  of  experiments 
on  the  phosphorescence  of  the  diamond,  ruby,  and 
other  minerals. 

Curiose  speculationen.     Leipzig,  1707. 

CURL  (MARTHA  A.).  Ancient  gems.  [In  American  Anti- 
quarian, xxii.,  p.  284,  1900.] 

DALL  (W.  H.).  Pearls  and  pearl  fisheries.  [In  Ameri- 
can Naturalist,  1883,  pp.  579,  731.] 

DANA  (E.  S.).  On  the  emerald  green  spodumene  (Hid- 
denite)  from  Alexander  County,  North  Carolina.  [In 
Am.  Jour.  Science,  1881,  xxii.,  p.  179.] 

DANA  (E.  S.,  and  H.  L.  WELLS).  Description  of  the  new 
mineral,  beryllonite.  [In  Am.  Jour.  Science,  1889, 
xxxvii.,  p.  23.] 

DAUBREE  (M.).  Rapport  sur  un  memoir e  de  M.  Stanislas 
meunier  ayant  pour  titre:  Composition  et  origine  du 
sable  diamantifere  de  Du  Toits  Pan.  [In  Comptes 
Rendus,  Ixxxiv.,  p.  1124.]  A  summary  of  the  sub- 
ject to  the  date. 

DAVENPORT  (CYRIL  JAMES  H.).  Cameos.  London:  Seeley 
&  Co.  New  York:  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1900,  viii.,  66 
pp.  Frontispiece.  Illustrations.  Plates  partly 
coloured.  Portrait.  4°.  (The  Portfolio;  mono- 
graphs, No.  41.) 

DAVY  (HUMPHRY).  Some  experiments  on  the  combus- 
tion of  the  diamond  and  other  carbonaceous  sub- 
stances. [In  Phil.  Trans.,  1814,  p.  557.] 

De  Lapidibus,  Avibus  et  Arboribus  Indite,  Arabix,  et 
Africx.  [Harleian  manuscripts.] 


Bibliography  3J9 

DERBY  (0.  A.).  The  geology  of  the  diamantiferous  re- 
gion of  the  province  of  Parana,  Brazil.  [In  Proc. 
Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  xviii.,  p.  251;  also  Am.  Jour.  Science, 
1879,  xviii.,  p.  310.] 

•  On  the  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  Brazil.     [In  Am. 
Jour.  Science,  1882,  xxiv.,  p.  34.] 

•  Notes  on  certain  schists  of  the  gold  and  diamond 
region   of   eastern   Minas   Geraes,  Brazil.     [In   Am. 
Jour.  Science,  1900,  x.,  p.  207.] 

Diamantengrabereien  in  Siidafrika.  [In  Zeits.  deutsch. 
Ing.  Arch.  Ver.,  xxvi.,  1883,  p.  565.] 

Diamond,  Description  of  the.  [In  Phila.  Trans,  Abr.,  ii., 
1708,  p.  405.] 

Diamond,  The,  or  the  pest  of  a  day.    London,  1797. 

Diamond,  The  artificial  production  of.  [In  Nature,  xxii., 
1880,  pp.  404,  421.] 

Diamond  (The).  [In  Westminster  Review,  Jan., 
1883.] 

Diamond,  Fresh  .  .  .  discoveries  in  New  South  Wales. 
[In  Iron,  xxiii.,  p.  249,  1884.] 

Diamond.  Papers  and  notes  on  the  genesis  and  matrix 
of  the  .  .  .  by  the  late  Henry  Carvill  Lewis,  edited 
by  H.  C.  Bonney.  London,  1897. 

Diamonds.     [In  Nature,  Aug.  5,  1887,  p.  325.] 

Diamond  Cutting.  [In  13  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S. 
Commissioner  of  Labor.]  Deals  with  subjects  re- 
lating to  the  comparison  of  hand  and  machine  work. 

Diamond  mining  at  Kimberley,  South  Africa.  [In  Geol. 
Mag.,  x.,  1883,  p.  460.] 

DINGLEY  (ROBERT).  On  gems  and  precious  stones,  parti- 
cularly such  as  the  ancients  used  to  engrave  on.  [In 
Phil.  Trans.:  Abr.,  ix.,  1747,  pp.  345.] 

DIEULAFAIT  (L.).  Diamants  et  Pierres  Precieuses.  Paris, 
1871. 

.  Diamonds  and  precious  stones;  a  popular  account 

of  gems.  New  York,  1874. 

Dioscorides  materia  medica.  Written  about  AJ>.  50.  A 
portion  of  the  work  treats  especially  of  the  medicinal 
properties  of  minerals. 

DIXON    (A.    C.).    Rocks    and   minerals    of   Ceylon.      [In 


320  Bibliography 

Jour.  Ceylon  Branch  Roy.  Asiatic   Soc.,  vi.,  No.  22, 

p.   39.     Colombo.] 
DOELTER  (C.).   Edelstein  Kunde.   Bestimmung  und  Unter- 

suchung   der  Edelsteine   und  Schmucksteine   Kuenst- 

liche  Darstellung  der  Edelsteine.     Leipzig,  1893. 
DOLCE    (Luoovico).    Libre  tre,  nei  Quali  si  tratta  delle 

diverse   sorti   delle   gemme    che   produce    la   Natura. 

Ven.   (Venice),  1564. 
DOLL    (E.).    Zum   vorkommen   des   Diamants   in   Itako- 

lumite   Brasiliens   und  in  den  Kopjen   afrikas.     [In 
f  Verh.  k.-k.  geol.  Reichs.,  1880,  p.  78.] 
DREE  ( ).    Catalogue  de  Musee  Miner alogique.   Paris, 

1811. 
.     Voyage  aux  mines  de  diamants   dans   le   Sud   de 

I'Afrique.       [In     Tour     du     Mond,     Nos.     931-933, 

1878.] 
Du  CHESNE  (J.).    A  Brief e  Aunswere  of  losephus  Quer- 

cetanus  Armeniacus,  etc.     London,  1591.     Contains  a 

second   part  "  concerning   the  use   of  mineral  medi- 
cines." 
Du  MERSAN   (T.  M.).    Histoire  du  cabinet  des  medailles, 

Pierres  Gravees,  etc.     Paris,  1838. 
DUMONT   (and  JOURDAN).    Pierres  precieuses. 
DUNN    (E.   J.).    Notes  on  the  diamond   fields   of  South 

Africa.     [In  Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc.,  xxxiii.,  p.  879, 

and  v.  37,  p.  609.] 
DUTENS    (LEWIS).     Des  pierres  precieuses  et  des  pierres 

fines,  avec  les  moyens  de  les  connoitre  et  de  valuer. 

[In  his  (Euvres,  ii.]     Londres,  1776. 
ECCHELLENSIS  (ABRAHAM).     Versio  Durrhamani  de  medi- 

cis   Virtutibus   animalum,  plantarum   et   gemmarum. 

Paris,  1647. 

ECKERMAN   (N).    Electra,  oder  die  Enstehung  des  Bern- 
steins.    Halle,  1807. 
EEKHEL   (J.  H.).    Choix  des  Pierres  gravees  du  Cabinet 

Imperial  des  Antiques.     Vienne   (Vienna),  1788. 
EICHORN  (J.  G.).    Die  gemmis  scalptis  Hebraeorum.     [In 

Goettingen  Ges.  d.  Wiss.  Comm.,  1811-13.] 
EKEBERG   (ANDREW  GUSTAVUS).    Dissertatio  de  Topazio. 

Upsal   (Upsala),  1796. 


Bibliography  321 

ELLIOTT  (JOHN).  On  the  specific  gravity  of  diamonds. 
[In  Phil.  Trans.:  Abr.,  ix.,  1745,  pp.  147.] 

E  MANUEL  (H.).  Diamonds  and  precious  stones.  Lon- 
don, 1865.  Contains  a  very  full  bibliography. 

ENCELIUS  (CHRISTOPH).  De  Re  Metallica,  hoc  est,  de 
origine  varietate  et  natura  corporum  metallicorum, 
Lapidum,  Gemmarum  atque  aliarum  quae  ex  fodinis 
eruuntur,  Libri  HI.  Francf.  (Frankfurt),  1551. 

ENGELHARDT  (As.  VON).  Die  Lagerstatte  der  Diamenten 
im  Ural-Gebirge.  Riga,  1830. 

EPIPHANIUS.  De  duodecim  Gemmis  in  veste  Aaronis. 
[Gr.  Lat.  cum  corollario  Gesneri.]  Tig.  (Turin), 
1565. 

ERCKER   (L.).    Aula  Subterranea.    1595. 

ERMANN.  Beitrage  zur  Monographic  des  Marekasit,  Tur- 
malin,  und  Brasilianischen  Topas.  Berlin,  1829. 

FABRE  (P.  J.).  L'Abrege  des  secrets  chymiques,  ou  I' on 
void  la  nature  des  animaux,  vegetaux,  et  mineraux 
entierement  decouverte.  Paris,  1636. 

FALLOPIUS  (G.).  De  Medicatis  Aquis  atque  de  Fossilibus, 
tractatus  ab  Andrea  Marcolini  collectus.  Venetia 
(Venice),  1564. 

FARRINGTON  (OLIVER  CUMMINGS).  Gems  and  gem  min- 
erals. Chicago,  A.  W.  Mumford,  1903.  xii.,  229  pp. 
Illustrations.  Plates.  Maps.  4°. 

FERGUSON  (A.  M.  and  J.),  All  about  gold,  gems,  and 
pearls  in  Ceylon  and  southern  India.  London,  1888. 

FERNEL  (JOHN  FRANCIS).  Pharmacia,  cum  Guliel, 
Plantii  et  Franc.  Saguyerii  Scholiis.  Hanov.  (Han- 
over), 1605. 

FEUCHTWANGER  (L.).  Treatise  on  gems  in  reference  to 
their  practical  and  scientific  value.  New  York,  1838. 

.  Popular  treatise  on  gems  in  reference  to  their 

scientific  value:  a  guide  for  the  teacher,  etc.  New 
York,  1859. 

FlCORiNi  (F.).  Gemmse  antiques  adnot.  N.  Galeotti. 
Romae  (Rome),  1757. 

FINOT  (L.).  Les  Lapidaires  Indiens.  Paris,  1896.  Con- 
tains eight  different  Sanskrit  books  of  the  art  of  the 
Indian  lapidary,  two  of  which  are  translated.  The 


322  Bibliography 

gems  are  described  with  reference  as  to  origin,  their 

value   as  charms,   and   also   as   to   their   occurrence, 

colour,  class,  and  value. 
FISCHER  (G.  DE  WALDHEIM).    Essai  sur  la  Turquoise  et 

sur  la  calaite.     Moscou   (Moscow),  1810. 
.    Essai  sur  la  Pellegrina,  ou  la  Perle  incomparable 

des  freres  Zozima.     Moscou    (Moscow),  1818. 
FLADE  (C.  G.).    De  re  metallica  Midianitarum  et  Phaeni- 

cornum.     Lipsiae   (Leipzig),  1806. 
FLADUNG  (J.  A.  F.).     Versuch  iiber  die  Kennzeichen  der 

Edelsteine  und  deren  vortheilhaftesten  Schnitt.    Pesth 

(Budapest),  1819. 

.    Edelsteinkunde.    Wien   (Vienna),  1828. 

FONTENAY   ( ).     Bijoux  anciens  et  modemes. 

FONTENELLE    ( ).     Nouveau   manuel   complet   du   bi- 

joutier.     Paris,  1855. 
FORSTER  (J.  A.).     Diamonds  and  their  history.     [In  Jour. 

Microscopy  Nat.  Science,  iii.,  1884,  p.  15.] 
FOWLE   ( ).     Occurrence  of  diamonds  in  China.     [In 

U.  S.  Consular  Report,  No.  198,  1897,  p.  384.] 
FOUQUE    (F.    and   M.    LEVY).     Synthese    des    mineraux. 

f  Paris,   1871. 
FREMY   (E.  and  TEIL).    Artificial  production  of  precious 

stones.     [In  Jour.  Soc.  Arts,  xxvi.,  1878.] 
.     Sur  la  production  artificielle  du  corindon  du  rubis 

et   de    differents   silicates    cristallises.     [In    Comptes 

Rendus,  Ixxxv.,  p.  1029.] 
FRIEDLANDER    (I.).    Artificial   production  of   diamond  in 

silcates  corresponding   to  the  actual  mode  of  occur- 
rence in  South  Africa.     [In  Geol.  Mag.,  p.  226,  1898.] 
FRISCHOLZ    (J.).    Lehrbuch   der   Steinschneidekunst,    fur 

Steinschneider,   Graveurs,   etc.,   und   Jedens,   welcher 

sich  iiber  die   Veredlung  der  Steine  zu  unterrichten 

wiinscht.     Munchen   (Munich),  1820. 
FURTWANGLER     (AooLPH).    Die    antiken    Gemmen.    Ges- 

chichte  der  Steinschneidekunst  im  klassischen  Alter- 

tum.     Leipzig,    Berlin:    Giesecke   &    Devrient,   1900. 

3  vols.     Illustrations.     Plates.     F°. 
GALAMAZAR    ( ).    Liber  de  Virtutibus  lapidum  preti- 

osorum  quern  scripsit  Galamazar,  Thesaurarius  Regis 


Bibliography  323 

Babylonie,  ipso  presenti  et  precipiente.  [In  Harleian 
Manuscripts.] 

GAUTIER  (J.).  Untersuchung  iiber  die  Entstehung, 
Bildung  und  den  Bau  des  Chalcedons,  etc.  Jena,  1809. 

Gems.  [In  Spon's  Encyclopedia  of  the  Industrial  Arts, 
p.  1042.] 

GERHARD  (C.  A.).  Disquisitio  physico-chemica  grana- 
torum  Silesise  atque  Bohemise.  [Inaug.  Diss.  Frank- 
furt a.  d.  Oder,  1760.] 

GESNER  (CONRAD).  Liber  de  rerum  fossilium,  lapidum  et 
gemmarum,  maxime  figuris.  Tig.  (Turin),  1565. 

GIMMA  (D.  GIACENTO).  Delia  storia  naturale  delle 
gemme,  delle  pietre  e  di  tutti  minerali,  ovvero  della 
fisica  sotteranea.  Napoli  (Naples),  1730. 

GINANNI  (FANTUZZI  M.).  Osservazioni  geognostiche  sul 
coloramento  di  alcune  pietre  e  sulla  formazione  di  un 
agate  nel  museo  Ginanni  di  Rivenna.  1857. 

GIPPS  (G.  G.  DE).  Occurrence  of  Australian  opal.  [In  a 
paper  read  before  the  Australian  Institute  of  Mining 
Engineers,  1898.] 

GLOCKER  (ERNST  FRIEDRICH).  De  gemmis  Plinii,  im- 
primis de  topazio.  Vratislaviae  (Breslau),  1824. 

GOEPERT  (H.  R.).  Ueber  pflanzenahnliche  Einschliisse  in 
den  Chalcedonen.  1848. 

Gold  and  Gems.    Mawe's  Travels  in  the  Brazils.    1812. 

GORCEIX  (H.).  Les  diamants  et  les  pierres  precieuses  du 
Bresil.  [In  Comptes  Rendus,  1881,  p.  981;  also  in 
Rev.  Sci.,  xxix.,  1882,  p.  553.] 

.  Etudes  des  mineraux  qui  accompagnent  le  diamant 

dans  le  gisement  de  Salabro  (Bresil).  [In  Bull.  Soc. 
Min.  Francais,  vii.,  1884,  p.  209.] 

GRATACAP  (Louis  P.,  A.M.).  Curator,  Mineralogy,  Ameri- 
can Museum  of  Natural  History.  A  Vade  Mecum 
Guide  to  Mineral  Collections.  New  York. 

.  The  Collection  of  Minerals.  Supplement  to  Ameri- 
can Museum  of  Natural  History  Journal,  vol.  ii.,  No. 
2.  February,  1902.  Guide  Leaflet  No.  4  to  the 
Museum. 

GREGOR  (WILLIAM).  An  analysis  of  a  variety  of  the 
corundum.  [In  Nicholson's  Journal,  iv.,  1803,  p.  209.] 


324  Bibliography 

GREYILLE  (CHARLES).  On  the  corundum  stone  from 
Asia.  [In  Phil.  Trans  Abr.,  xviii.,  1798,  p.  356;  and 
Nicholson's  Journal,  ii.,  p.  477.] 

GRIFFITHS  (A.  B.).  On  the  origin  and  formation  of  the 
diamond  in  nature.  [In  Chemical  News,  xlvi.,  1882, 
p.  105.] 

GROTH  (P.).  Grundriss  der  Edelsteinkunde.  Leipzig, 
1887. 

GRONOVIUS  (J.).  Gemmse  et  Sculptures  antiques  de 
pictae  ab  Leonardo  Augustino  Senensi.  2  vols.  in  one. 
Franequerae  (Franecker),  1694. 

GRUNLING  (FR.).  Uber  die  Mineral  vorkommen  von  Cey- 
lon. [In  Zeits.  Krystallographie,  xxxiii.,  1900,  p. 
209.] 

GiixHE  (J.  M.).  Ueber  den  Asterios-Edelstein  des  Caius 
Plinius  Secundus;  eine  antiquarisch-lithognostische 
Abhandlung.  Miinchen  (Munich),  1810. 

GuYTON-MoRVEAU  (B.  L.).  On  the  singular  crystalliza- 
tion of  the  diamond.  [In  Nicholson's  Journal,  xxv., 
1810,  p.  67.] 

.  Account  of  certain  experiments  and  inferences  re- 
specting the  combustion  of  the  diamond  and  the 
nature  of  its  composition.  [In  Nicholson's  Journal, 
iii.,  p.  298.] 

HABDARRAHAMUS  (ASIUTENSIS  ^EGYPTIUS).  De  proprieta- 
tibus  ac  virtutibus  medicis  animalum,  plantarum  ac 
gemmarum.  [Ex  Arab.  Lat.  redd,  ab  Abrahamo  Ec- 
chellensi.]  Paris,  1647. 

HABERLE  (C.  C.).  Beobachtungen  iiber  Gestalt  der  Griin- 
und  Keimkrystalle  des  schorlartigen  Berylls,  un  dessen 
ubrige  oryctognostische  und  geognostische  Verhalt- 
nisse.  Erfurt,  1804. 

HAECKEL  (E.).    A  visit  to  Ceylon.    London,  1883. 

HAIDINGER  (W.).  Ueber  den  Pleochroismus  des  Ame- 
thystes.  Wien  (Vienna),  1846. 

.  Ueber  eine  neue  Varietal  von  Amethyst.  [In 

Denkschr.  Akad.  Wien,  1849.] 

.  Pleochroismus  und  Krystallstructur  des  Ame- 

thystes.  [In  Ber.  Akad.  Wien,  1854.] 

.    Der  fur  Diamant  oder  noch  werthvolleres  ausge- 


Bibliography  325 


gebene   Topas   des  Hern  Dupoisat.     [In   Ber.   Akad. 

Wien,  1858.] 
HAMLIN  (A.  C.).         The  tourmaline.     Boston,  1873. 

.     Leisure  hours  among  the  gems.     1884. 

HANNAY  (J.  B.).     On  the  artificial  formation  of  the  dia- 
mond.    [In  Chemical  News,  1880,  p.  106.] 
.    Artificial  diamonds.     [In   Nature,  xxii.,  22,  1880, 

p.  255.] 
HASSE    (J.   H.   F.).    Der   Aufgefundene   Eridanus,    oder 

neue  Aufschliisse  iiber  den  Ursprung  des  Bernsteins. 

Riga,  1769. 
HAUY    (RENE  JUST).    Traite  de   la  mineralogie.    Paris, 

1780. 
.    Memoire  sur  les  topazes  du  Brezil.     [In  Ann.  Mus. 

d'Hist.  Nat.,  Paris,  1802.] 
.     Observations  sur  les  Tourmalines,  particulierement 

sur  celles  qui  se  trouvent  dans  les  fetats  Unis.     [In 

Memoire  du  Museum,  Paris,  1815.] 
.     Traite   des   caracteres  physiques   des  Pierres  pre- 

cieuses,  pour  servir  a  leur  determination  lorsqu'elles 

sont  tailles.     Paris,  1817. 
HELMKACKER  (R.).     On  the  Russian  diamond  occurrences. 

[In  Eng.  and  Min.  Jour.,  Oct.  28,  1898.] 
HOBBS   (W.  H.).     The  diamond  field  of  the  Great  Lakes. 

[In  Jour,  of  Geol.,  vii.,  1899,  no.  4.] 
HERMES    TRISMEGISTUS.     Tabula    smaragdina    vindicata. 

1657.    An  alchemical  treatise. 
HERTZ  (B.).     Catalogue  of  Mr.  Hope's  collection  of  pearls 

and  precious  stones,  systematically  arranged  and  de- 
scribed.    London,  1839. 
HESSLING  (Tn.  VON).    Die  Perlmuschel  und  ihre  Perlen. 

Leipzig,  1859. 
HILLER  (M.).     Tractus  de  Gemmis  xii.,  in  Pectorali  Ponti- 

ficis  Hebrxorum.     Tubingen,  1698. 
HINDMARSH    (R.).     Precious  stones,  being  an  account  of 

the  stones  mentioned  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures.    Lon- 
don, 1851. 
Histoire  des  Joyaux  et  des  principals  Richesses  de  I'orient 

et  de  I'occident.     Geneve   (Geneva),  1665. 
History  of  Jewels.     London,   1671. 


326  Bibliography 

HODGSON  (JOHN).  Dissertation  on  an  ancient  cornelian. 
[In  Archseol.,  ii.,  1773,  p.  42.] 

HOLCOMB  (WILLIAM  HARTLEY).  Precious  gems  and  com- 
mercial minerals.  .  .  .  San  Diego:  Press  of  Frye, 
Garrett  &  Smith,  [190-?]  28,  [4],  pp.  Illustrations. 
12°. 

HOLLANDUS  (I.).  Opera  mineralia  et  vegetabilia.  Arn- 
hem  (Arnheim),  1617. 

HUDLESTON  (W.  H.).  On  a  recent  hypothesis  with  re- 
spect to  the  diamond  rock  of  South  Africa.  [In  Min. 
Mag.,  1883,  p.  199.] 

Identification  of  Gems.  [In  Mineral  Industries  (annual), 
1898,  p.  278.] 

JACOB  (P.  L.).  Curiosites  des  sciences  occultes;  alchimie, 
medecine  chimique  et  astrologique,  talismans,  amu- 
lettes,  baguette,  divinatoire,  astrologie,  chiromancie, 
magie,  sorcellerie,  etc.  Paris,  1885. 

JACOBS  (H.  and  N.  CHATRIAN).  Monographic  du  dia- 
mant.  Paris,  1880.  A  second  edition  in  1884. 

JANETTAZ  (N.  and  E.  FONTENAY,  EM.  VANDERHEGEN,  and 
A.  COUTANCE).  Diamant  et  pierres  precieuses.  Paris, 
1880. 

JANNETAZ  (N.).  Les  diamants  de  la  couronne.  [In  Sci- 
ence et  Nature,  1884.] 

JENNINGS  (H.).  The  Rosicrucians.  London,  1870.  An- 
other edition,  2  vols.,  in  1887.  Contains  some  re- 
ferences to  the  mystical  lore  of  gems. 

JEFFRIES  (DAVID).  Treatise  on  diamonds  and  pearls,  in 
which  their  importance  is  considered,  plain  rules  are 
exhibited  for  ascertaining  the  value  of  both,  and  the 
true  method  of  manufacturing  diamonds  is  laid  down. 
London,  1750. 

.     Traite  des  diamants  et  des  perles.     Paris,  1753. 

.  An  abstract  of  the  treatise  on  diamonds  and  pearls, 

by  which  the  usefulness  to  all  who  are  in  any  way 
interested  in  these  jewels  will  sufficiently  appear,  and 
therefore  addressed  to  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  this 
kingdom,  and  to  the  traders  in  jewels.  London,  1754. 

JOHN  (J.  F.).  Naturgeschichte  des  Succins,  oder  des 
sogernannten  Bernsteins.  Koln  (Cologne),  1816. 


Bibliography  327 

JONES  (W.).  Treasures  of  the  earth,  or  mines,  minerals, 
and  metals.  London,  1879. 

.  Precious  stones,  their  history  an(*  mystery.  Lon- 
don, 1880. 

.    Finger-ring  lore.     London,  1890. 

JONSTONUS  (JOHANNES).  Notitia  Regni  Vegetabilis  et 
Mineralis.  Lipseae  (Leipzig),  1661. 

.     Thaumatographia  Naturalis.     Amsterdam,  1632. 

JOSEPHUS.  Antiquatum  Judaicarum.  [Translated  from 
the  Greek  by  W.  Whiston.]  London,  1737.  In  book 
iii.,  chap,  viii.,  is  an  account  of  the  marvellous 
properties  of  the  stones  in  the  breast-plate  of  the 
high  priest. 

JUDD  (J.  W.  and  W.  E.  HIDDEN).  On  the  occurrence  of 
ruby  in  North  Carolina.  [In  Min.  Mag.,  1889,  p. 
139.] 

JUTIER  ( ).  Exploitation  du  diamant  dans  la  colonie 

du  cap.  [In  Compt.  Rendus  Soc.  Industr.  Min.  St. 
Etienne,  p.  34.] 

Juwelier,  Der  Aufrichtige,  oder  Anweisung  oiler  Arten 
Edelsteine,  Diamenten,  und  Perlen  zu  erkennen,  nebst 
einer  aus  dem  Englischen  uebersetzten  Abhandlung 
von  den  Diamanten  und  Perlen.  Frankfurt,  1772. 

KAHLER  (M.).  De  Crystallorum  Generatione.  Upsal 
(Upsala),  1747. 

KALM  (P.).  Ndgra  Kanne  mar  ken  til  nyttiga  miner  aliens 
eller  ford  och  Baigarters  upfinnande.  Aboas  (Abo), 
1756. 

Key  to  precious  stones  and  metals.     London,  1869. 

KING  (C.  W.).    Antique  gems.    London,  1860. 

.  The  natural  history  of  precious  stones  and  of  the 

precious  metals.  London,  1867. 

.  The  natural  history  of  gems  or  decorative  stones. 

London,  1867. 

.    Handbook  of  engraved  gems.     London,  1885. 

KING  (G.  P.).  Topaz  and  associated  minerals  at  Stone- 
ham,  Maine.  [In  Am.  Jour.  Science,  xxvii.,  1884,  p. 
212.] 

Kirani  Kiranides  et  ad  eas  Rhyakini  koronides,  sive  mys- 
teria  Physico-Medica.  London,  1685. 


328  Bibliography 

KIRCHER  ( ATHANASIUS)  .  Mttndus  subterraneus  in  XII. 
libros  digestus  Amstellodami  (Amsterdam),  1678. 
Another  edition,  Le  Monde  Souterrain,  in  French. 

KIRKPATRICK  (T.  S.  G.).  Simple  rules  for  the  discrimi- 
nation of  gems.  New  York,  1895. 

KLAPROTH  (M.  H.).  Analysis  of  the  spinel.  [In  Nichol- 
son's Journal,  iii.,  1799,  p.  549.] 

KLEBS  (R.).  Der  Bernstein,  Seine  Gewinnung,  Geschichte 
u.  geologische  Bedeutung.  Berlin,  1880. 

KLEEFELD  ( ).    Die  Halbedelstein.     Berlin,  1879. 

.     Die  Edelstein. 

KLUGE  (K.  E.).  Handbuch  der  Edelsteinkunde.  Leipzig, 
1860. 

KOHLER  (H.  K.  A.  VON).  Kleine  Anhandlungen  zur  Gem- 
menkunde. 

.  Untersuchung  iiber  den  sard,  onyx  und  sardonyx. 

Braunschweig  (Brunswick),  1801. 

KOKSCHAROW  (N.  VON).  Materialen  zur  mineralogie 
Russlands.  St.  Petersburg.  Eleven  vols.  and  atlas. 
Begun  in  1853  and  the  parts  issued  from  time  to 
time.  Contains  mineralogical  descriptions  of  gem 
minerals  of  the  Russian  Empire. 

KONIG  (EMANUEL).  Regnum  minerale,  physice,  medice, 
anatomice,  alchymice,  analogice,  theoretice  et  practice 
investigatum.  Basil  (Basle),  1689. 

KONNERITZ  (L.  VON).  Mittheilung  mannichfaltiger  Ver- 
such  Edelsteine  Kunstgemass  zu  schleifen.  Weimar, 
1841. 

KRAUSE  (T.  H.).  Pyrgoteles,  oder  die  edeln  Steine  der 
alien  in  Bereiche  der  Natur,  etc.  Halle,  1856. 

KUNZ  (G.  F.).  Precious  stones.  [In  Mineral  Resources 
of  the  United  States.  Issued  annually  by  the  United 
State  Geological  Survey.] 

.  Precious  stones.  [In  Appleton's  Physical  Geogra- 
phy.] 

.  The  gems  in  the  National  Museum.  [In  Popular 

Science  Monthly,  April,  1886.] 

.  Precious  stones,  gems,  and  decorative  stones  in 

Canada  and  British  America.  [Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey of  Canada,  Ottawa,  1888.] 


Bibliography  329 

KUNZ  (Cont.}.  The  fresh-water  pearls  and  fisheries  of 
the  United  States.  [In  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Fish 
Commission,  1897,  p.  375.] 

.     Gems  and  precious  stones.     New  York,  1890. 

.  Folk-lore  of  precious  stones.  1894.  A  catalogue 

of  specimens  exhibited  in  the  Department  of  Anthro- 
pology, World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago, 
1893. 

• .  Sapphires  from  Montana,  with  special  reference  to 

those  from  Yogo  Gulch,  in  Fergus  County.  [In  Am. 
Jour.  Science,  iv.,  1897,  p.  417.] 

.  Precious  stones,  minerals,  etc.:  original  studies 

upon.  New  York,  1902.  [263]  pp.  Illustrations. 
Plate.  Map.  8°. 

.  The  production  of  precious  stones  in  the  United 

States.  Washington,  1900.  [218]  pp.  Colored  plates. 
Tables.  4°. 

.  Catalogue  de  la  collection  de  pierres  precieuses 

d'origine  etrangere,  exposes  par  la  maison  Tiffany  & 
Co.  pour  le  Museum  d'histoire  naturelle  de  New  York. 
.  .  .  Exposition  universalle  de  1900.  New  York: 
Tiffany  et  Co.  [1900].  46  pp.  4°. 

.  Collection  of  pearls  and  the  shells  in  which  they 

are  found  in  the  brooks,  rivers,  and  on  the  coasts  of 
the  United  States.  U.  S.  section.  Exposition  uni- 
versalle, Paris,  1900.  New  York,  Paris  [etc.]: 
Tiffany  &  Co.  [1900].  [16]  pp.  12°.  (With  his 
Catalogue  de  la  collection  de  pierres  precieuses  .  .  . 
d'origine  etrangere.  New  York,  [1900].  40°. 

.  Gems,  jewellers'  materials,  and  ornamental  stones 

of  California.  Sacramento:  W.  W.  Shannon,  Su- 
perintendent State  Printing,  1905.  171  pp.  Illustra- 
tions. Map.  8°.  (California.  State  Mining 
Bureau.  Bulletin  No.  37.) 

.  Natal  stones;  sentiment  and  superstition  connected 

with  precious  stones.  [9th  ed.]  New  York:  Tiffany 
&  Co.,  [c  1902].  30  pp.  16°. 

KUNZ  and  STEVENSON  (DR.  GEORGE  FREDERIC  KUNZ  and 
DR.  CHARLES  HUGH  STEVENSON).  The  Book  of  the 
Pearl.  Illustrated  in  colour  tint,  black  and  white,  and 


33°  Bibliography 

photogravure.  Royal  octavo,  $12.50.  The  Century 
Co.,  New  York  City.  1908. 

LABARTE  (M.  JULES).  Handbook  of  the  arts  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  Renaissance,  as  applied  to  the  decoration 
of  jewels,  etc.  London,  1855. 

LACAZE  (DUTHIERS  H.).  Histoire  Naturelle  du  Corail, 
Organisation,  Reproduction,  P$che  en  Algerie,  In- 
dustrie, etc.  Paris,  1864. 

LAET  (JOHN  DE).  De  Germnis  et  Lapidibus  Libri  II., 
Quibus  prxmittitur  Theophrasti  Liber;  de  Lapidibus 
Gr.Lat.,  cum  annotationibus.  Ludg.  Bat.  (Leyden)  ,1647. 

LANCON   (H.).    L'Art  du  Lapidaire.    Paris,  1830. 

LANGIUS  (JOHANNES).  Epistolse  tnedicinales.  Lugd. 
(Leyden),  1557. 

Lapidum  Pretiosorum  usus  magicus,  sive  de  sigillis.  [In 
Harleian  Manuscripts.] 

LAUNAY  (L.  DE).    Les  diamants  du  Cap.     Paris,  1897. 

LEA  (ISAAC).  Inclusions  in  gems.  [In  Proc.  Acad.  Nat. 
Science,  Philadelphia.] 

.  Further  notes  on  "  inclusions "  in  gems,  etc. 

Philadelphia:  Collins,  printer,  1876.  11,  [1]  pp. 
Plates.  8°.  "  Extracted  from  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia." 

LEISNERUS  (Gorr.  CHRIST.).  De  Coralliorum  Natura, 
Prseparatis  et  Usibus.  Wittembergae  (Wittemberg), 
1720. 

LEMNIUS  (LEVINUS).  Occulta  Naturae  Miracula.  Ant- 
werp, 1567. 

LENK  (J.).  Neue  Entdeckung  eines  Steines  Serpentin- 
Agat.  Wien  (Vienna),  1802. 

LEONARDUS  (CAMILLUS).  Speculum  Lapidum.  Venet. 
(Venice),  1502. 

.  Tratto  delle  Gemme  che  produce  la  Natura;  tradu- 

zione  di  M.  Ludovico  Dobe.  1565. 

.  The  mirror  of  stones,  in  which  the  nature,  gene- 
rative properties,  virtues,  and  various  species  of  more 
than  200  different  jewels,  precious  and  rare  stones 
are  distinctly  described.  London,  1750. 

LEWIS  (H.  C.).  Genesis  and  matrix  of  the  diamond. 
London,  New  York,  and  Bombay,  1897. 


Bibliography  331 

LIBAVIAE   (A.).    Alchemia.     Frankfurt,  1597. 

Liber  Hermetis,  tractans  de  15  Stellis  et  de  15  Lapidibus 

et   de   15   Herbis   et   de   15   Figuris.      [In    Harleian 

Manuscripts.] 
LIVERSEDGE    (A.).    On    the    occurrence    of    diamonds    in 

New    South    Wales.     [In    Minerals    of    New    South 

Wales,  London,  1888.] 

LOEWM   ( ).     Ueber  den  Bernstein  und  die  Bernstein- 
Fauna.     Berlin,  1850. 
LONINSER    (G.).    Die    Marmaroscher    Diamanten.    Pres- 

berg,  1856. 
LOSCH    (A).      Ueber  Kalkeisengranat    (Demantoid)    von 

Syssertzk   am   ural.     [In   Neues   Jahrbuch,   1879,   p. 

785.]     Description  of  locality,  occurrence,  etc.,  of  the 

green  garnet  (demantoid)  used  in  jewelry. 
Louis    (H.).     The  ruby  and  sapphire  deposits  of  Moung 

Klung,  Siam.     [In  Min.  Mag.,  1894,  p.  276.] 

LUCRETIUS   ( ).    De  Rerum  Natura. 

LULLIUS     (RAYMUNDIS).    Lebelli     aliquot    chemici,     etc. 

Basileae    (Basle),  1600.     [See  p.  319:  "  De  composi- 

tione  gemmarum  et  lapidum  preciosorum."] 
MAKOWSKY    (A.).     Ueber  die  Diamanten  des   Kaplandes 

auf   der    Weltaustellung   in    Wien.     [In    Verh.    Nat. 

Ver  Brvinn,  xii.,  p.  16.] 
MALLET  (F.  R.).    On  sapphires  recently  discovered  in  the 

Northwest  Himalayas.     [In  Rec.   Geol.    Surv.   India, 

xv.,  1881,  p.  138.] 
MANDEVILLE   (JOHN).    Le  Grande  Lapidaire,  ou  sont  de- 

clarez  les  noms  de  Pierres  orientales,  avec  les  Vertus 

et  Proprietes  d'icelles,  et  lies  et  pays  ou  elles  croissant. 

Paris,  1561. 
MARBODAEUS  (GALLUS).    De  Gemmarum  Lapidumque  pre- 

tiosorum   formis   atque   viribus   opus   culum.     Colon 

(Cologne),  1593. 
.    De  Lapidibus  pretiosis  Enchiridion,   cum  Scholiis 

Pictorii.    Wolfenbiiltelaj   (Wolf  enbiiltel) ,  1740. 
MARIETTE    (P.  J.).     Traite   des   Pierres   gravees.    Paris, 

1750. 

MARSHALL  (W.  P.).    Notes  on  the  Great  Kimberley  Dia- 
mond  Mine.      [In    Midi.    Nat.,   vii.,    p.   93.]      Marl- 


33 2  Bibliography 

borough  gems.  Gemmarum  Antiquarum  Delectus  ex 
prsestantioribus  desumptus,  quae  in  Dactyliothecis 
Ducis  Marlburiensis  conservantur,  1845. 

MARTIN  (K.).  Notizen  iiber  Diamanten.  [In  Zeits. 
deutsch,  geol.  Gesells.,  xxx.,  p.  521;  plate.]  A  crys- 
tallographic  study  of  the  diamonds  in  the  Leyden 
Museum. 

MASKELYNE  (N.  S.).  Artificial  diamonds.  [In  Jour. 
Soc.  Arts,  xxvii.,  p.  289.] 

MASON  (F.).  Burma:  Its  people  and  productions.  Lon- 
don, 1882.  In  2  vols.,  i.,  geology  and  mineralogy. 

MAWE  (JOHN).  A  treatise  on  diamonds  and  precious 
stones,  including  their  history,  natural  and  com- 
mercial. To  which  is  added  some  account  of  the  best 
method  of  cutting  and  polishing  them.  London,  1813. 

.  Travels  in  the  interior  of  Brazil,  particularly  in 

the  gold  and  diamond  districts  of  that  country.  Lon- 
don, 1812. 

MEINEKE  (J.  L.  G.).  Ueber  den  Chrysopras  und  die 
denselben  begleitenden  Fossilien  in  Schlesien.  Er- 
langen,  1805. 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  The  Collection  of  En- 
graved Gems.  Introduction  to  and  description  of  The 
Johnston  Collection  at  the  Museum.  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art.  The  Heber  R.  Bishop  Collection  of 
Jade  and  other  Hard  Stones.  Descriptive  matter  of 
pertinent  Mineralogy,  Archaeology,  and  Art. 

MEUNIER  (S.).  Composition  et  origine  du  sable  dia- 
mantifere  de  Du  Toits  Pan  (Afrique-Australe) .  [In 
Comptes  Rendus,  Ixxxiv.,  p.  250.] 

MIDDLETON  (J.  HENRY).  The  engraved  gems  of  classical 
times,  with  a  catalogue  of  the  gems  in  the  Fitz- 
William  Museum.  Cambridge:  University  press, 
1891.  xvi.,  157,  xxxvi.,  pp.  Illustrations.  Plates 
4°. 

.  The  Lewis  collection  of  gems  and  rings  in  the 

possession  of  Corpus  Christi  college,  Cambridge;  with 
an  introductory  essay  on  ancient  gems.  London: 
C.  J.  Clay  and  Sons,  1892.  93  pp.  Illustrations. 
8°. 


Bibliography  333 

MILES  (C.  E.).  Diamonds.  [In  Trans.  Liverpool  Geol. 
Soc.,  ii.,  p.  92,  1882.] 

M.  L.  M.  D.  S.  D.  Denombrement,  Faculte  et  Origine  des 
Pierres  precieuses.  Paris,  1667. 

MOBIUS  (K.).      Die  echten  Perlen.     Hamburg,  1857. 

MORALES  (G.  DE).  Libro  de  las  Virtudes  y  Propriedades 
maravillosas  de  las  Piedras  preciosas.  Madrid,  1605. 

MORGAN  (SYLVANUS).  The  Sphere  of  Gentry.  1661. 
Contains  an  account  of  the  heraldic  meaning  of  gems. 

MORRIS  ( J.) .  Gems  and  precious  stones  of  Great  Britain. 
1868. 

MORTIMER  (CROMWELL).  Remarks  on  the  precious  stone 
called  the  turquois.  [In  Phil.  Trans.  Abr.,  viii.,  p. 
324.] 

MULLER  (J.).  Nachricht  von  den  in  Tyrol  entdeckten 
Turmalinen,  oder  Aschenziehern,  von  Ignaz  Edeln 
von  Born.  Wien  (Vienna),  1787. 

MURRAY  (J.).    Memoir  on  the  diamond.    London,  1839. 

MURRAY  (R.  W.).  Diamond  fields  of  South  Africa. 
[In  Jour.  Soc.  Arts,  xxix.,  p.  370.] 

NATTER  (L.).  A  treatise  on  the  ancient  method  of  en- 
graving precious  stones  compared  with  the  modern. 
London,  1754. 

Natural  Magick,  in  twenty  books,  wherein  are  set  forth 
all  the  riches  and  delights  of  the  natural  sciences, 
with  engravings.  London,  1658.  An  English  trans, 
of  Porta's  Magiae  Naturalis. 

NANMANN  (KARL  FRIEDRICH).  Lehrbuch  der  reinen  und 
angewandten  Krytotallo  graphic.  Liepzig:  F.  A. 
Brockhaus,  1830.  2  vols.  905  diagrams  on  xxxix. 
folded  plates.  8°. 

NICOLS  (THOMAS).  A  lapidary,  or  history  of  pretious 
stones;  with  cautions  for  the  undeceiving  of  all  those 
that  deal  with  pretitious  stones.  London,  1754. 

.  Arcula  Gemmea;  or  the  Nature,  Virtue,  and 

Valour  of  Precious  Stones,  with  cautions  for  those 
who  deal  in  them.  Cambridge,  1652. 

.  Gemmarius  Fidelis,  or  the  Faithful  Lapidary;  ex- 
perimentally describing  the  richest  Treasures  of  Na- 
ture, in  an  Historical  Narrative  of  the  several 


334  Bibliography 

Natures,  Virtues,  and  Qualities  of  all  Precious  Stones, 

with  a  Discovery  of  all  such  as  are  adulterate  and 

counterfeit.     London,  1659. 
NORTHRUP   (H.  D.).    Beautiful  gems.     1890. 
OCHTCHEPKOFF    (J.   W.).    Qui   a   decouvert   le    Diamant 

dans  les  Monies  Ourals?     [In  Bui.  Soc.  Oural.  Sci. 

Nat.,  vii.,  p.  87,  1884.] 

Opals  (Australian).     [In  Iron,  xxii.,  p.  490,  1883.] 
ORPEN  (G.).    Stories  about  famous  precious  stones.    1890. 
ORPHEUS.    Hymni    et    de   Lapidibus.     Gr.    Lat.,    curante 

A.    C.    Eschenbachio;    accedunt    H.    Stephani    notte. 

Traj.  ad  Rh.  (Cologne),  1689. 
ORTON     (J.).         Underground    treasures.      Philadelphia, 

1881. 

PAGE  (D.).    Economic  Geology.    London,  1874. 
PARACELSUS  (PHILIPPUS  AURELIUS  THEOPHRASTUS)  .    Nine 

books  on  the  nature  of  things;  into  English  by  J.  F. 

London,  1650. 
.     Of    the    chymical    transmutation,    genealogy,    and 

generation  of  metals  and  minerals  [tr.  by  R.  Turner]. 

London,  1657. 
PARROT  ( ).    Notices  sur  les  Diamants  de  VOural   [In 

Mem.  de  1'Acad.  Imp.,  St.  Petersburg,  1832.] 
PARTSCH  (P.).    Beschreibendes  Verzeichniss  einer  Samm- 

burg  von  Diamanten  und  der  zur  Bearbeitung  dersel- 

ben  nothwendigen  apparate.     Wien   (Vienna),  1822. 
PAXMAN   (J.  N.).    The  diamond  fields  of  South  Africa. 

[In  Eng.  Min.  Jour.,  xxxv.,  p.  382.] 
.     On   the   diamond  fields   and  mines   of  Kimberley, 

South  Africa.     [In  Proc.  Inst.  Civil  Eng.,  Ixxiv.,  p. 

59.] 
PAXTON   (J.  R.).    Jewelry  and  the  precious  stones.     [By 

Hipponax   Roset,  pseudon.]     Philadelphia,   1856. 
PETZHOLDT  (M.).    Beitrdge  zur  Naturgeschichte  des  Dia- 
mants.    Dresden  und  Leipzig,  1842. 
PHILOSTRATUS.    De  Vita  Apolonii. 
PIERERUS  (G.  P.).     Lazulus,  Dissertatio  chymico,  medica. 

Argentorati   (Strasburg),  1668. 
PINDER   ( ).    De  Adamante  Commentatio  Antiquaria. 

Berlin,  1829. 


Bibliography  335 

PiRSSON  (L.  V.).  On  the  corundum-bearing  rock  from 
Yogo  Gulch,  Montana.  [In  Am.  Jour.  Science,  iv., 
1897,  p.  421.] 

PLINY.  Historia  Naturalis  C.  Plinii  secundi.  First  issued 
A.D.  77.  The  work  is  divided  into  37  books,  and  these 
into  short  chapters;  the  last  5  books  treat  particularly 
of  gems  and  other  minerals. 

PLUCHE  (ANTOINE  NOEL  DE).  Spectacle  de  la  Nature. 
Paris,  1732-39. 

PLUMMER  (J.).  Australian  localities  of  diamond.  [In 
Watchmaker,  Jeweller,  and  Silversmith,  xxiv.,  1898.] 

PLYTOFF  (G.).  Divination,  calcul,  des  probability  oracles 
et  sorts,  songes,  graphologie,  chiromancie,  phrenolo- 
gie,  physiognomic,  cryptographic,  magie,  kabale,  al- 
chimie,  astrologie,  etc.  Paris,  1891. 

POLE  (W.).  Diamonds.  [In  London  Archaeol.  Trans., 
1861.] 

PORTA  (JOHN  BAPTIST).  Magise  Naturalis.  Porta  [born 
1538,  died  1615]  published  the  first  edition  of  this 
work  in  1553,  when  he  was  but  15  years  old.  It  con- 
tains much  concerning  the  mystical  properties  of 
gems.  The  work  also  contains  a  description  of  the 
camera  obscura. 

.  A  method  of  knowing  the  inward  virtues  of  things 

by  inspection.  1601. 

.    De  Distillationibus.     Romae    (Rome),  1608. 

PORTALEONE  (ABRAHAM).  Shilte  Haggeborim  [The 
Shields  of  the  Mighty'].  Mantua,  A.M.  5372  (A.D. 
1612). 

POTT  (M.  J.).  Lithogeopnosie  ou  examen  chymique  des 
Pierres  et  des  Terres  en  general  et  de  la  Topaze  et 
de  la  steatite  en  particulier.  Paris,  1753. 

POUGENIEFF.  Precious  Stones.  Russian,  with  2  coloured 
plates  and  numerous  woodcuts.  St.  Petersburg,  1888. 

POUGET  (N.).  Traite  des  Pierres  precieuses,  et  de  la 
maniere  de  les  employer  en  parure.  Paris,  1762. 

PRATT  (J.  H.).  Notes  on  North  Carolina  minerals.  [In 
Journal  Elisha  Mitchell  Scientific  Society,  xiv.,  part 
2,  p.  61,  1898].  Describes  occurrence  of  emerald. 

PRATT  (J.  H.,  and  W.  E.  HIDDEN).    Rhodolite,  a  new  va- 


336  Bibliography 

riety  of  garnet.  [In  Am.  Jour.  Science,  v.,  1898,  p. 
293;  also  vi.,  1898,  p.  463.] 

Precious  stones  of  the  Bible;  descriptive  and  symbolical. 
1878. 

Precious  stones,  cutting  and  polishing  of.  [In  Mineral 
Industries  (annual),  p.  229,  1899.] 

PRINZ  (W.).  Les  enclaves  du  Saphir,  du  Rubis,  et  du 
Spinelle.  [In  Bui.  Soc.  Beige.  Microsc.,  1882.] 

PSELLUS  (MICHAEL  CoNSTANTiNUS) .  Le  Lapidum  Virtu- 
tibus.  Lugundi  Batavorum  (Leyden),  1795. 

RAGOUMOVSKY  ( ) .  Distribution  Technique  des  Pierres 

precieuses,  avec  leurs  caracteres  distinctifs.  Vienne 
(Vienna),  1825. 

RAMBOSSON    ( ).    Les  Pierres  precieuses. 

RANTZOVIUS  (HENRY).  De  Gemmis  scriptum  olim  a  poeta 
quodam  non  infeliciter  carmine  redditum  et  nunc  pri- 
mum  in  lucem  editum.  Leipzig,  1585.  A  manuscript 
on  the  properties  and  effects  of  precious  stones  at- 
tributed to  "  Evax,  a  King  of  the  Arabs." 

RAVIUS  (S.  F.).  Specimen  arabicum,  continens  descrip- 
tionem  et  excerpta  libri  Achmedis  Teifaschii  "  De 
Gemmis  et  Lapidibus  Pretiosis."  Trajetum  ad  Rhe- 
num  (Leyden),  1784. 

REYNAUD  (J.).  Histoire  elementaire  des  mineraux  usuels. 
Paris,  1867. 

ROBERTSON  ( J.  K.  M.) .  The  occurrence  of  opals  in  central 
Australia  and  Queensland.  [In  Chem.  News,  Ixv., 
1882,  pp.  95.  101.] 

.  On  the  occurrence  of  opals  in  the  colony  of  Queens- 
land. [In  Proc.  Phil.  Soc.  Glasgow,  xiii.,  p.  427.] 

RONTON  (EDWARD).  Intaglio  engravings,  past  and  pre- 
sent. London:  G.  Bell  and  Sons,  1896.  xii.,  117, 
(2)  pp.  Illustrations.  16°. 

ROSENMULLER  (E.  F.  C.).  Mineralogy  of  the  Bible. 
[Translated  by  Repp  and  Morren.]  Edinburgh,  1840. 

Ross  (W.  A.).    Pyrology.     London,  1875. 

.  On  the  cause  of  the  blue  colour  of  sapphire,  lazulite, 

and  lapis  lazuli;  the  green  colour  of  emerald  and  the 
purple  of  amethyst.  [In  Chem.  News,  xlvi.,  1882,  p. 
33.] 


Bibliography  337 

ROTHSCHILD  (M.  D.).     Handbook  of  precious  stones.    New 

York,  1890. 
ROY     (C.    W.    VAN).    Ansichten    iiber    Enstehung    und 

vorkommen  des  Bernsteins,  so  wie  praktische  mitthei- 

lungen  iiber  den  iverth  und  die  Behandhtng  desselben 

als  Handelsware.     Dantzig,  1840. 
RUDLER    (F.   W.).     Agate  and  agate  working.     [In  Pop. 

Science  Rev.,  i.    (new  series),  p.  23.] 
.     Artificial    diamonds.     [In    Pop.    Science    Rev.,   iv., 

1880,  p.  136.] 

.    Diamonds.     [In  Science  for  All,  ii.] 

.     On  jade   and  kindred   stones.      [In   Pop.    Science 

Rev.,  iii.,  p.  337.] 
RUDOLPH    (A.).    Die    edeln   metalle   und   Schmucksteine, 

mit  37  Tabellen.     Breslau,  1858. 
RUE    (F.   DE   LA).    De    Gemmis.     Parisii    (Paris),   1547. 

Other   editions:    Ludg.,    1622;    Franc.,    1626;    Gron., 

1626. 
RUENS   (F.).     De  Gemmis  aliquot,  Us  praesertim  quarum 

Divus  Joannes  Apostolus  in  sua  Apocalypsi  notavit. 

Paris,  1547. 
RULANDUS   (M.).    Medicina  Practica.     Arg.    (Strasburg), 

1564. 
.     Lexicon    Alchemise.     Frankfurt,     1661.     First    ed. 

dated  1612.     The  author,  a  physician  to  Rudolph  II. 

of  Germany,   gives  several   receipts   for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  occult  and  medicinal  properties  of  gems. 
RUSKIN  (J.).     On  the  heraldic  meaning  of  precious  stones. 

[In   his    lecture   before   the   London   Institute,    Feb., 

1876.] 
SANDIUS    (CHRISTOPHER).    On  the  origin  of  pearls.     [In 

Phil.  Trans.:  Abr.,  ii.,  p.  126,  1674.] 

Sapphire.     [In  Mineral  Industries  (annual),  p.  235,  1896.] 
Sapphire  Mines  of  Burma.     [In  Mineral  Industries    (an- 
nual) ,  p.  239,  1896.] 
Sapphire  Mines  in  Siam.     [In  Jour.  Soc.  Arts,  xxviii.,  p. 

770.] 
SARMENTO  (J.  C.  DE).    An  account  of  diamonds  found  in 

Brazil.     [In  Phil.  Trans.:  Abr.,  viii.,  1731,  p.  503.] 
SHAW   (FREDERICK  MOULTON).    Gems  of  the  first  water 


338  Bibliography 

and  how  obtained.  [2d  ed.]  Los  Angeles,  Cal.:  P. 
M.  Shaw  and  G.  Bentley  [1887].  3-99  pp.  24°. 

SCHINDLER  (A.  H.).  The  turquoise  mines  of  Nishapur, 
Khorassan.  [In  Rec.  Geol.  Survey,  India,  xvii.,  p. 
132.] 

SCHMIDT  (C.  J.).  Das  Wichtigste  fiber  dem  Opal  in 
Allgemeinen  und  iiber  sein  Vorkommen  in  Mdhren 
im  Besonderen.  [In  Mitth.  d.  k.  k.  Mahr.  Schles. 
Gesells.,  Brunn,  1855.] 

SCHRAUF  (A.).  Handbuch  der  Edelateinkunde.  Wien 
(Vienna),  1869. 

SCHULZE  (H.).  Practisches  Handbuch  der  Juwelierkunst 
und  Edelsteinkunde.  Quedlinburg  und  Leipzig,  1830. 

SCOT  (REGINALD).  Discovery  of  witchcraft.  London, 
1651.  Contains  several  curious  charms  in  which  gems 
are  used. 

SCUDALUPIS  (P.  ARLENSIS  DE).  Sympathia  Septem  ac 
Septem  Selectorum  Lapidum  ad  Planetas.  An  al- 
chemical or  astrological  work;  among  other  curiosities 
it  contains  a  list  of  stones  "  in  sympathy  with  the 
seven  planets." 

SERAPION  (J.).  De  medicamentis  tarn  simplicibus  quam 
compositis.  Mediolanum  (Milan),  1473. 

SHELLY   (F.).    Legends  of  gems.    New  York,  1893. 

SHEPARD  (C.  U.,  SR.).  Notice  of  corundum  gems  in 
the  Himalaya  regions  of  India.  [In  Am.  Jour.  Sci- 
ence, xxvi.,  1883,  p.  339.] 

SHEPSTONE  (T.).  The  geographical  and  physical  char- 
acters of  the  diamond  fields  of  South  Africa.  [In 
Jour.  Soc.  Arts,  xxii.,  1874.] 

SHIPTON    ( ).    Precious  gems.     London,  1867. 

SILLIMAN  (B.).  Turquoise  of  New  Mexico.  [In  Proc. 
Am.  Assoc.,  xix.,  p.  431 ;  also  Am.  Jour.  Science,  xxii., 
1880,  p.  67.] 

SLEVOGTII  (J.  H.).   De Lapide Bezoar.   Jenae  (Jena),  1698. 

SMITH  (M.  A.  H.  CLIFFORD).  Jewellery.  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons,  New  York,  1908. 

SOMMERVILLE  (MAXWELL).  Engraved  Gems.  Philadel- 
phia, London,  [etc.]:  D.  Biddle,  1901,  6,  (2),  7-133 
pp.  Illustrations.  Plates.  4°. 


Bibliography  339 

SOTTO  (J a.).  Le  Lapidaire  du  Quartorzieme  Siecle.  Wien 
(Vienna),  1862. 

SPENCER  (GEORGE).  Gemmarum  antiquarum  delectus;  ex 
praestantioribus  desumptus,  quae  in  dactyliothoci* 
duds  Marlburiensis  conservantur.  Londini:  Apud 
Joannen  Murray,  1845.  2  vols.  Plates.  P°. 

SPENER  (J.  J.).  De  gemmis  errores  vulgares.  Lipsiae 
(Leipzig),  1688. 

SMYTH  (H.  W.).  Five  years  in  Siam  (1891-1896).  2 
vols.  London,  1898. 

SPEZIA  (G.).  Sul  colore  del  Zircone.  [In  Atti  R.  Ac. 
Torino,  xii.,  p.  37.]  His  experiments  show  that  the 
colour  is  dependent  upon  the  degree  of  oxidation  of 
the  contained  iron. 

STEINBECK  ( ).  Ueber  die  Bemstein-Gewinnung. 

Brandenburg,  1841. 

STERRETT  (DOUGLAS  B.).  The  Production  of  Precious 
Stones  in  1906.  Advance  Chapter  from  Mineral  Re- 
sources of  the  United  States,  Calendar  Year,  1906. 
Department  of  the  Interior— United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey.  Government  Printing  Office,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  1907. 

STREETER  (E.  W.).  Precious  stones  and  gems.  London, 
1877.  [1882.] 

.  Great  diamonds  of  the  world.  London,  1892. 

[1898.] 

SUTTON  (A.  L.).    Lingua  gemmae:  cycle  of  gems.    1894. 

TAGORE  (S.  M.).  Mani-mdld,  or  a  treatise  on  gems.  2  vols. 
Calcutta,  1879.  Contains  a  bibliography  of  Sanskirt, 
Persian,  Arabic,  and  other  Oriental  works  on 
gems. 

TASSIE  (JAMES).  Descriptive  catalogue  of  a  collection  of 
ancient  and  modern  engraved  gems,  cameos,  and  in- 
taglios of  the  most  celebrated  cabinets  in  Europe; 
cast  in  colored  pastes,  white  enamel,  and  sulphur;  ar- 
ranged and  described  by  R.  E.  Raspe,  1791. 

TASSIN  (WlRT).  Descriptive  catalogue  of  the  collections 
of  gems  in  the  United  States  National  Museum. 
Washington:  Government  printing  office,  1902.  (2), 
473-670  pp.  Illustrations.  Plates.  8°.  "Reprinted 


340  Bibliography 

from  the  Report  of  the  United  States  National 
Museum  for  1900."  Bibliography,  pp.  649-670. 

The  Mussel  Fishery  and  Pearl  Button  Industry  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  United  States  Fish  Commission 
Bulletin  for  1898.  Pages  289-314.  Plates  65  to  85. 

TA VERNIER  (J.  B.).  Voyages  in  Turquie,  en  Perse  et  aux 
Indes.  Paris,  1676. 

.  Account  of  diamond  mines.  [In  Pinkerton's  Col- 
lection of  Voyages,  viii.,  1811.] 

TAYLOR  (L.).  Precious  stones  and  gems,  with  their 
reputed  virtues.  London,  1895. 

TAYLOR  (N.).  On  the  Cudgegong  diamond  field,  New 
South  Wales.  [In  Geol.  Mag.,  iv.,  p.  399.] 

TEIFASCITE  (AHMED).  Fior  di  Pensieri  sulle  Pietre  Pre- 
ziose,  opera  stampata  nel  suo  originale  Arabo  di 
Ant.  Raineri.  Firenze  (Florence),  1818. 

TENNANT  (J.).  Gems  and  precious  stones.  [In  Soc.  of 
Arts,  Lect.,  1851-52.] 

Tesoro  delle  Gioie,  Trattato  curioso.  Venetitia  (Venice), 
1670. 

THEOPHRASTUS.  History  of  stones,  with  the  Greek  text 
and  an  English  version,  and  notes,  critical  and  philo- 
sophical, including  the  modern  history  of  gems  de- 
scribed by  that  author,  by  Sir  John  Hill.  London, 
1746. 

Thousand  (A)  notable  things  on  various  subjects.  Lon- 
don, 1814. 

TIMBERLAKE.— Discourse  of  the  travels  of  two  English 
pilgrims.  1611.  Contains,  among  others,  an  account 
of  a  great  jewel  used  in  conjuring. 

TOLL  (ADRIANUS).  Gemmarum  et  Lapidum  Historia. 
Lugduni  (Leyden),  1636. 

.  Le  Parfaict  Joaillier,  ou  Histoire  des  Pierreries, 

ou  sont  amplement  descrites  leur  naissance,  juste 
prix,  etc.  Lyon,  1644. 

Traite  des  Pierres  de  Theophraste.  [Translated  from  the 
Greek.]  Paris,  1754. 

TURNER  (H.  W.).  The  occurrence  and  origin  of  diamonds 
in  California.  [In  American  Geologist,  1899,  p.  182.] 

VALENTINUS    (BASILUS).     Of    natural    and    supernatural 


Bibliography  341 

things,  etc.  [Translated  from  the  Dutch  by  D.  C.] 
London,  1670.  An  alchemical  treatise  containing  sev- 
eral accounts  of  the  occult  and  medicinal  properties 
of  gems.  The  German  edition  was  issued  at  Eisleben 
in  1603. 

VANE  (G.).  The  pearl  fisheries  of  Ceylon.  [In  Journal 
of  the  Ceylon  Branch  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  x.,  1887. 
Colombo.] 

VEGA  (GARCILASO  DE  LA).  History  of  the  Incas.  [Vari- 
ous editions.] 

VELTHEIM  (A.  F.  VON).  Etwas  uber  Memnons  Bildsdule, 
Nero's  Smaragd,  Toreutik,  und  die  Kunst  der  Alien 
in  Stein  und  Glas  zu  schneiden.  Helmstadt,  1793. 

.  Etwas  uber  das  Onyx-Gebirge  des  Clesias  und  den 

Handel  der  Alien  nach  Ost-Indien.  Helmstadt,  1797. 

VENETTE  (NICHOLAS).  Traite  des  Pierres.  Amsterdam, 
1701. 

VETTERMANN  (A.).  Kurze  Abhandlung  uber  einige  der 
vorziiglichsten  Classen  der  bunten  oder  gefdrbten 
Edelsteine.  Dresden,  1830. 

VOGEL  (H.  W.).  Spectralanalytische  Notizen.  [In  Ber. 
Deutsch.  chem.  Gesell.,  x.,  p.  373,  1887.]  Examina- 
tion of  garnet,  ruby,  etc. 

WASHBURN  (HOWARD  E.).  American  Pearls.  The  Ann 
Arbor  Press,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

WERNHER  ( ).  Die  Gewinnung  und  Aufbereitung  der 

Diamanten  in  Siid-Afrika.  [In  Wochenschr.  Deutsch. 
Ing.-Arch.-Ver.,  p.  365.] 

WESTROPP   (H.  M.).    Manual  of  precious  stones.     1874. 

WECKERUS  (or  WECKER).  Antidotes  speciales  de  Lapidi- 
bus  minus  pretiosis  alterantibus. 

WILLIAMS  (C.  G.).  Researches  on  emeralds  and  beryls. 
[In  Chem.  News,  xxv.,  p.  256.]  A  purely  chemical 
paper. 

WILLIAMS  (GARDNER  F.,  General  Manager  De  Beers 
Mines.)  The  Diamond  Mines  of  South  Africa.  B. 
F.  Buck  &  Co.,  New  York,  1905. 

WILLIMOT  (C.  W.).  Canadian  gems  and  precious  stones. 
[In  Ottawa  Naturalist,  Nov.,  1891.] 

WORLIDGE    (T.).    A    select    collection    of   drawings   from 


342  Bibliography 

curious  antique  gems;  most  of  them  in  the  possession 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  this  kingdom;  etched 
after  the  manner  of  Rembrandt.  London:  Printed 
by  Dryden  Leach,  for  M.  Worlidge,  1768.  (12),  48 
pp.  Plates.  4°. 

ZEPHAROVITCH  (V.  VON).  Der  Diamant,  ein  popular er 
vortrag.  Gratz,  1862. 

ZERREMER  (C.).  Anleitung  zum  Diamanten.  Waschen  aus 
Seifengebirge,  Uferund  Flussbett-Sand.  Leipzig, 
1851. 

.     De  Adamanti  Dissertatio.     Lipsiae   (Leipzig),  1862. 


GLOSSARY 

ACICULAR.     Needle-like. 

ADAMANTINE.  Very  hard — as  hard  as  steel.  From 
Adamas  (Greek);  Adamanta  (Latin),  the  lustre  of 
the  diamond. 

AGGREGATES.    Clusters  or  groups. 

ALLUVIAL.  Washing  away  rocks,  soil,  or  other  mineral 
material  from  one  place  and  depositing  the  debris  in 
another. 

AMORPHOUS.    Without  form,  shapeless. 

AMULET.  From  hamalet  (Arabian),  to  carry.  A  charm, 
or  talisman,  worn  on  the  person  to  ward  off  disease, 
accident,  or  other  harm. 

ARBORESCENT.    Resembling  a  tree  in  appearance. 

ASTERIATED.  Radiated,  with  rays  diverging  from  a  centre, 
as  in  a  star — as  exhibited  by  an  asteriated  or  star 
sapphire. 

AVICULIDAE.    Wing-shells,  or  Pearl  Oysters. 

Axis.  Axes  or  planes  of  crystals  or  other  minerals — as 
demonstrated  in  crystallography. 

BABY.  Trough  or  cradle  in  which  gravel  was  washed  for 
diamonds  by  early  South  African  diamond-seekers. 

BAHIAS.     Diamonds  from  the  Bahia  district,  Brazil. 

BASE.  "  Foundation  price  of  a  one-grain  pearl  from 
which  to  reckon  prices  of  pearls  of  other  weights. 
The  price  of  pearls  is  quoted  by  the  grain  and  reck- 
oned by  the  square;  example:  a  two-grain  pearl  at 
three  dollars  base  would  be  twice  three  dollars,  or 
six  dollars  per  grain  'flat';  and  two  grains  at  six 
dollars  would  be  twelve  dollars,  the  cost  of  the  pearl.'* 
(From  Precious  Stones  by  W.  R.  Cattelle.) 

BIREFRINGENCE.  Double  refraction  of  light  of  crystal 
minerals. 

BIZEL.     Portion  of  brilliant-cut  diamond  above  the  girdle. 

343 


344  Glossary 


BLEBBY.     Blisters  or  bubbles  in  a  crystal  mineral 

BLUE  GROUND.  Diamond-bearing  clay  of  lower  levels  of 
South  African  diamond  mines. 

BLUE  WHITE.     Highest  grade  of  South  African  diamonds. 

BORT  or  BOART.  Imperfectly  crystallised  form  of  dia- 
mond unfit  for  gems  and  used  for  pointing  rock 
drills,  for  bearings  of  fine  machinery  and  other  tech- 
nical uses. 

BOTRYOIDAL.  A  surface  presenting  a  group  of  rounded 
projections. 

BRECCIA.  A  not  wholly  formed  rock  of  angular  frag- 
ments naturally  cemented  by  lime  or  some  other  ad- 
hesive mineral  substance  or  "  binder." 

BRILLIANT.  A  style  of  diamond-cutting  with  fifty-six 
facets,  exclusive  of  table  and  culet. 

BRITTLE.  A  mineral,  when  it  may  be  readily  broken  by 
a  blow. 

BRITTLE.  A  stone  that  breaks,  or  parts  of  it  separate 
into  powder,  when  the  attempt  is  made  to  cut  it. 

BROWNS.  Eighth  in  list  of  principal  trade  terms  in  grad- 
ing diamonds. 

BRUTING.  Polishing  diamonds  by  rubbing  one  against 
another. 

BUBBLES.     Small  hollow  specks  in  the  body  of  a  gem. 

BUILT-UP  RUBY.    Reconstructed  ruby. 

BYON.  Brownish-yellow  clay  in  which  occurs  corundum — 
rubies,  sapphires,  etc. 

Ground  adjacent  to  mother  rock  in  which  rubies 

have  weathered  out. 

BYSSUS.  Fibres,  flaxy  or  silky  in  appearance,  by  which 
a  mussel  attaches  its  shell  to  wood  or  stone. 

BY-WATERS.    Yellow  tinted  diamonds. 

CAPES.     Diamonds  with  a  yellowish  tinge. 

CAPILLARY.    Hair-like. 

CARAT.  (Karat.)  A  unit  of  weight  applied  to  precious 
stones  verying  in  different  trade  centres.  See  table 
of  weights  of  the  carat  in  various  localities  in  the 
Appendix.)  The  word  carat  is  supposed  to  be  de- 
rived from  "  Kuara,"  the  bean-like  fruit  of  an  Af- 
rican tree  reputed  to  have  been  used  as  a  standard  of 


Glossary  345 

weight  for  precious  stones.  Karat  is  used  to  in- 
dicate degrees  of  quality  in  gold. 

CARBON.  A  tetrad  (having  four  sides) ,  non-metallic  min- 
eral element  occurring  in  two  crystalline  forms,  dia- 
mond and  graphite,  and  one  amorphous  form,  coal. 

CARBON  DIOXIDE.  Carbonic  acid  gas;  a  colourless  gas  1524 
times  as  heavy  as  air  and  twenty-two  times  as  heavy 
as  hydrogen. 

CARBON  SPOTS.  Opaque  black  spots  in  the  body  of  a 
diamond. 

CARBONADO.  Brownish,  black  variety  of  diamond;  large 
pebbles  or  masses  of  diamonds,  nearly  pure  carbon. 
Carbonado  was  formerly  chiefly  found  in  great 
quantity — now  decreasing — in  Bahia  diamond  district, 
Brazil;  used  to  point  rock  drills  and,  reduced  to 
powder,  for  polishing  diamonds. 

CARBUNCLE.  Garnet — sometimes,  ruby,  spinel,  or  other 
red  gem — cut  convex  or  en  cabochon:  there  is  no  such 
specific  mineral. 

CAT'S-EYE.  A  term  applied  to  gem  minerals  which,  when 
cut  convex  (en  cabochon),  display  a  band  of  light, 
usually  across  inclusions  of  parallel  fibres  of  as- 
bestos; name  derived  from  resemblance  to  the  eye  of 
a  cat. 

CEYLON  RUBY.    A  ruby  having  a  pink  tint. 

CHALCEDONY  PATCHES.  Milk  -  like  semi  -  transparent 
patches  which  sometimes  occur  as  faults  in  rubies. 

CHANGE  OF  COLOURS.  Manifested  in  minerals  like  Labrado- 
rite,  where  the  colours  change  as  the  stone  is 
turned. 

CHATOYANCY.  Changeable  or  undulating  lustre  or  colour, 
as  displayed  by  a  cat's-eye. 

CHIPS.  Cleavage  of  diamonds  of  smallest  fractions  of  a 
carat  in  use. 

CLATERSAL.  Diamond  splints,  which  are  converted  into 
diamond  powder  by  crushing. 

CLEAN.     Free  from  interior  flaws. 

CLEAVAGE.  Direction  within  a  crystal  along  which  there 
is  minimum  cohesion;  diamond  crystals  which  re- 
quire cleaving;  pieces  cleaved  from  the  crystal. 


346  Glossary 

CLEAVING.  Splitting  a  crystal  in  a  direction  in  which  it 
may  most  easily  be  done — along  the  grain. 

CLOSE  GOODS.  Pure  stones,  of  desirable  shapes;  highest 
class  of  South  African  diamonds,  as  assorted  at 
Kimberley. 

CLOUDS.  Muddy  or  cloudy  patches  of  any  colour  in  a  stone 
which,  when  brought  to  the  surface  by  cutting,  are 
ineradicable.  "  Flat,  subtransparent  blotches  along 
the  grain  of  a  stone." — Cattelle. 

COLOUR-PLAY.  (Play  of  Colours.)  Prismatic  colours  pro- 
duced by  dispersion  of  light. 

COLOUR  RANGE.  A  statement  of  the  various  colours  ex- 
hibited by  different  specimens  of  a  mineral. 

COMBUSTIBILITY.  A  quality  possessed  by  the  diamond 
only,  among  gems. 

CONCENTRATES.  Gem  or  mineral  ore  or  ground  reduced 
by  mechanical  or  chemical  processes  to  its  minimum 
in  bulk  or  weight. 

CONCHOIDAL.     Shell-like  fracture  of  any  mineral. 

CONCRETIONS.  Mechanical  aggregation,  or  chemical  union 
of  particles  of  mineral  forming  balls  or  irregularly 
shaped  nodules  in  strata  of  different  material. 

CONGLOMERATE.  Pebbles  or  gravel  bound  together  nat- 
urally by  a  silicious,  calcareous,  or  argillaceous 
cement. 

CORUNDUM.    Crystallised  alumina — rubies,  sapphire,  etc. 

CRADLE.  Trough  in  which,  by  a  rocking  motion,  placer 
miners  wash  auriferous  or  gem  gravels. 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY.  The  science  which  describes  or  de- 
lineates the  form  of  crystals. 

CRYSTALS.  Trade  term  for  fourth  grade  cut  diamonds; 
colourless  diamonds. 

CULASSE.    Portion  of  brilliant-cut  diamond  below  the  girdle. 

CULET.  (Or  Collet).  Bottom  facet  of  brilliant  parallel 
to  the  girdle. 

CURATOR.  One  to  whose  official  care  is  entrusted  a  de- 
partment— as  of  mineralogy — in  a  museum. 

DIAMOND.  The  mineral  gem  alone  composed  of  pure  car- 
bon; crystallises  in  the  isometric,  or  cubic,  system; 
combustible,  it  can  be  totally  consumed,  disappearing 


Glossary  347 

in  carbonic  acid  gas,  when  burned  between  the  poles 
of  a  powerful  electric  battery. 

DIAPHANEITY.    The  property  of  transmitting  light. 

DICHROISM.  A  property  of  all  doubly  refractive  stones, 
of  which  the  two  images  revealed  by  an  instrument 
called  dichroiscope  appear  in  different  colours. 

DICHROSCOPE.  An  instrument  designed  to  exhibit  the  two 
complementary  colours  of  polarised  light — the  di- 
chroism  of  crystals. 

DISPERSION.  The  power  which  decomposes  a  ray  of  com- 
mon white  light  in  its  passage  through  a  transparent 
medium  and  splits  it  into  the  various  colours  of  which 
it  is  composed. 

DODECAHEDRON.  A  geometrical  form  in  the  isometric  or 
cubic  system  applied  to  crystallography;  a  solid  fig- 
ure of  twelve  equal  sides,  each  a  regular  pentagon 
— of  five  equal  sides  and  angles. 

DOLOMITIC.  Pertaining  to  dolomite,  a  brittle,  translucent 
mineral  of  various  colours  and  a  vitreous  lustre. 

ERUPTIVE.  Minerals  of  volcanic  origin  in  geological 
formations. 

FACET.  One  of  the  small  planes  which  form  the  sides 
of  a  natural  crystal,  or  of  a  cut  diamond  or  other 
gem. 

FALES.     Stones  of  two,  or  more,  differently  tinted  strata. 

FALSE  COLOUR.    Effect  of  "  False  Stones." 

FANCY.  A  term  that  has  been  applied  to  semi-precious 
stones  prized  for  other  qualities  than  intrinsic  value. 

FAULT.  Anything  within,  or  on  the  surface  of,  a  pre- 
cious stone  which  detracts  from  its  beauty  or  value; 
obvious  examples  are  inclusions  of  foreign  bodies  and 
patches  of  a  different  colour  or  shade  from  the  body 
of  the  gem. 

FEATHERS.  White  subtransparent  lines  in  the  body  of  a 
stone. 

FEMININE.    Rubies  of  a  pale  tint. 

FERROUS.  Any  mineral  substance  having  a  considerable 
portion  of  iron  in  its  composition. 

FIRE.  Term  applied  to  the  lustre  and  brilliancy  of  gems, 
pre-eminently  the  diamond,  and  secondarily  the  opal. 


348  Glossary 

FIRST  BYE.  (First  By-water.)  Diamond  exhibiting  a 
faint  greenish  tinge. 

FIRST  WATER.  Diamonds  so  pure  and  colourless  that  they 
can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  water  when  im- 
mersed in  it. 

FISH-EYE.  A  diamond  cut  too  thin  to  present  the  max- 
imum effect  of  brilliancy. 

FLAT  ENDS.  Thin  cleavages  from  the  faces  of  a  diamond 
crystal. 

FLATS.     Thin,  flat  pieces  of  diamond  crystal. 

FLAW.  A  crack,  defect,  fault,  fissure,  or  other  structural 
imperfection  in  a  gem. 

FLUORESCENCE.  The  phenomenal  quality  exhibited  by 
some  gems  of  showing  one  colour  in  transmitted  light 
and  another  in  reflected  light;  fluorite,  from  which 
the  word  is  derived,  is  a  striking  example. 

FLUX.  To  melt,  to  fuse.  As  a  noun,  a  fluid  or  substance 
which  may  be  used  to  fuse  some  other  material. 

FRACTURE.  Breaking  a  gem  otherwise  than  the  lines  of 
cleavage. 

GEM  COLOUR.     The  most  desirable  colour  for  a  stone. 

GEMOLOGY.  A  word  coined  to  supply  a  specific  name  for 
the  science  of  gems. 

GLASSIES.     Octahedral  diamond  crystals   (transparent). 

GLASSY.    Applied  to  diamonds  which  lack  brilliancy. 

GoLCONDA.  Ancient  and  famous  group  of  diamond  mines 
on  the  Kistna  River,  India,  where  were  found  the 
Koh-i-noor  and  other  world-famous  diamonds. 

GOLCONDAS.     Diamonds  from  India. 

GRAIN  MARKS.  Lines  on  the  facet  surfaces,  the  result 
of  imperfect  polishing. 

GRAINERS.  Diamonds  which  in  weight  will  correspond  to 
fourths  of  a  carat;  a  diamond  weighing  one  half  a 
carat  is  a  two-grainer;  one  weighing  three  quarters 
is  a  three-grainer;  a  diamond  of  one  carat  in  weight 
is  a  four-grainer. 

GRANITIC.     Like,  or  of,  granite. 

GRANULAR.  Composed  of  or  resembling  granules  or 
grains. 

HARLEQUIN.    Most  beautiful  variety  of  opal. 


Glossary  349 

HEMIHEDRAL.  Having  only  half  the  planes  or  facets 
which  a  symmetric  crystal  of  the  type  to  which  it 
belongs  would  possess;  a  crystal  wanting  some  of  its 
planes.  (The  hemihedral  form  in  crystallography 
produces  or  aids  the  phenomena  of  pyroelectri- 
city.) 

HEXAGONAL.  Of  the  form  of  a  hexagon;  having  six  sides 
or  angles. 

HYDROSTATICS.  Pertaining  to  the  principles  of  the  equilib- 
rium of  fluids. 

INCLUSIONS.  Foreign  substances  within  the  body  of  a 
transparent  mineral. 

INDIAN-CUT.  A  style  of  diamond-cutting  usually  of  In- 
dian or  other  Oriental  origin  in  which  the  table  is 
usually  double  the  size  of  the  culet;  such  stones  are 
generally  recut  for  European  or  American  require- 
ments. 

IRIDESCENCE.  Descriptive  of  prismatic  colours  appearing 
within  a  crystal. 

ISOMETRIC.     The  cubic  system  in  crystallography. 

JAGERS.  Bluish-white  diamonds  of  modern  cut;  originally 
diamonds  from  the  Jagersfontein  mine. 

JiG.  (Jigger;  Pulsator.)  A  riddle  or  sieve  shaken  ver- 
tically in  water  to  separate  ore  or  gem  gravel  or 
ground  into  strata. 

KNIFE-EDGE.  The  girdle  of  a  brilliant  cut  to  a  sharp 
edge  and  polished. 

KNOTS.  Conditions  found  in  diamonds  as  in  wood,  and 
troublesome  to  the  lapidary. 

LAPIDARY.  One  who  cuts,  polishes,  or  engraves  precious 
stones. 

LIGHT  YELLOW.    Seventh  grade  diamonds. 

LUMPY.    Stones  cut  thick. 

LUSTRE.  The  optical  character  of  a  gem,  dependent  upon 
that  portion  of  the  light  falling  upon  it  which  is 
reflected  from  the  surface.  Degrees  of  lustre:  splen- 
dent, shining,  glistening,  glimmering.  Kinds  of 
lustre:  metallic,  vitreous  or  glassy,  adamantine  (the 
diamond's  lustre),  silky,  satiny,  pearly,  nacreous, 
greasy,  waxy,  resinous. 


350  Glossary 

MAACLES.  Flat  triangular  diamond  crystals  or  twin 
stones. 

MACLED.     Twinned  crystals. 

MASCULINE.  A  term  applied  to  rubies  of  an  intensely 
red  hue. 

MATRIX.  The  portion  of  rock  in  which  a  mineral  is  em- 
bedded. Gem  minerals  are  sometimes  cut  together 
with  a  portion  of  the  matrix  and  the  matrix  itself  is 
sometimes  cut  and  mounted  like  gems. 

MELANGE.     Diamonds  of  mixed  sizes. 

MELEE.    Small  diamonds. 

METALLURGY.  The  art  of  separating  metals  from  their 
ores  or  from  impurities;  smelting,  reducing,  refining, 
amalgamating,  alloying,  parting,  brazing,  plating, 
etc. 

MINERALOGY.  A  science  treating  of  those  natural  in- 
organic products  of  the  earth  which  possess  definite 
physical  and  chemical  characters. 

MONOCLINIC.    Inclining  in  one  direction. 

MONOCLINIC  SYSTEM.  Having  two  of  the  axial  intersec- 
tions rectangular  and  one  oblique;  havirtg  the  lateral 
axes  at  right  angles  to  one  another,  one  of  them  be- 
ing oblique  to  the  vertical  axis  and  the  other  at  right 
angles  to  it. 

MOSSY.     Term  applied  to  emeralds  clouded  by  fissures. 

MUDDY.  Imperfect  crystallisation  which  obstructs  the 
passage  of  light;  exemplified  by  mud  stirred  in  water. 

MUFFLE.  An  oven-shaped  vessel  of  baked  fire-clay  con- 
taining cupels  or  cups  in  which  alloy  is  fused,  or  a 
furnace  with  a  chamber  surrounded  by  incandescent 
fuel. 

MYTILIDAE.  A  family  of  conchiferous  molluscs — pearl 
producing  mussels. 

MYTILIUS  EDULIS.    The  true  mussel. 

NAATS.  Thin  flat  crystals  (diamond)  used  for  "roses" 
and,  by  resplitting,  for  draw-plates. 

NACREOUS.  Lustre  resembling  mother-of-pearl,  the  lining 
of  mollusc  shells. 

NIGHT  EMERALD.  Olivine,  which  loses  its  yellow  tint  by 
artificial  light,  showing  only  its  green. 


Glossary  351 

NOBLE.  The  highest  type  of  a  specified  kind  of  gem,  as 
"  Noble  Opal."  A  synonym  of  "  Precious." 

NODULES.  A  rounded  irregular-shaped  lump  or  mass, 
sometimes  enclosing  a  foreign  body  in  the  centre. 

OCCURRENCE.    To  be  found  existing. 

OCTAHEDRON.  Two  four-sided  pyramids  united  base  to 
base. 

OFF  COLOUR.    Having  but  a  tint  of  desirable  colour. 

OLD  MINE.  Diamonds  from  the  old  Brazilian  fields;  old 
cut  diamonds  of  good  colour. 

OPACITY.  The  quality  or  state  of  being  impervious  to 
light. 

OPALESCENCE.  A  milky  or  pearly  reflection  from  the  in- 
terior of  a  stone. 

OPALESCENT.  Resembling  or  having  the  tints  of  opal; 
reflecting  lustre  from  a  single  spot. 

OPAQUE.     When  no  light  is  transmitted. 

OPTIC  Axis.  The  line  in  a  double  refracting  crystal  in 
the  direction  of  which  no  double  refraction  occurs. 

ORGANIC.     Pertaining  to  the  animal  or  vegetable  kingdom. 

ORIENTAL.  A  term  much  used  in  the  gem  trade  to  dis- 
tinguish stones  of  entirely  differing  chemical  and 
crystallographic  nature  to  which  a  common  name  is 
applied,  as  "  Oriental  topaz,"  bestowed  on  specimens 
of  yellow  corundum  of  gem  quality. 

ORIGINAL  LOTS.  Unbroken  parcels  of  diamonds  as  graded 
and  assorted  at  the  mines. 

ORTHORHOMBIC.  (Trimetric.)  Having  three  unequal 
axes  intersecting  at  right  angles. 

OXIDE.  The  product  of  the  combination  of  oxygen  with 
a  metal  or  metalloid. 

PANNING.  Primitive  process  of  washing  gravel  by  placer 
miners  in  search  for  gems. 

PEARLY.    Resembling  the  sheen  of  the  pearl. 

PERCUSSION.  (Shaking  Table.)  A  form  of  ore-separating 
apparatus  consisting  of  a  slightly  sloping  table  on 
which  stamped  ore  or  metalliferous  sand  is  placed  to 
be  sorted  by  gravity.  A  stream  of  water  is  directed 
over  the  ore,  and  the  table  is  subjected  to  concusssion 
at  intervals. 


352  Glossary 

PHOSPHORESCENCE.  The  property  possessed  by  substances 
of  emitting  light  in  certain  conditions. 

PIGEON  BLOOD.  A  deep  clear  red;  the  gem  colour  of  the 
most  highly  prized  specimens  of  the  ruby. 

PLACER.  A  deposit  of  gem  minerals  found  separately, 
sometimes  as  rolled  pebbles,  in  alluvium  or  diluvium, 
or  beds  of  streams. 

PLAY  OP  COLOURS.     (See  colour-play.) 

PLEOCHRISM.  The  term  applied  to  minerals  in  which  a 
different  shade  of  colour  is  seen  in  more  than  two 
directions. 

POLARISATION.  In  optics,  a  state  into  which  the  ethereal 
undulations  which  cause  the  sensation  of  light  are 
brought  under  certain  conditions. 

POMEGRANATE.     Translation  of  the  Hindu  name  for  spinel. 

PRECIOUS.     (See  "Noble.") 

PRIMARY  SITUATION.  A  mineral  found  in  the  rock  in 
which  it  was  formed. 

PRISM.  (Geometry.)  A  solid  having  similar  and 
parallel  bases,  its  sides  forming  similar  parallel- 
ograms. (Optics.)  Any  transparent  medium  com- 
prised between  plane  faces,  usually  inclined  to  each 
other. 

PROSPECTING.     Searching  for  gem  fields  or  mines. 

PULSATOR.     (See  Jig;  Jigger.) 

PYROELECTRIC.  (Thermo-electric.)  Pertaining  or  re- 
lating to  electric  currents  or  effects  produced  by 
heat. 

QUALITY.  Native  values  of  a  gem  irrespective  of  colour 
and  cut. 

RECONSTRUCTED.  A  term  applied  to  an  artificial  gem 
composed  of  fused  particles  of  a  natural  precious 
stone — "  Reconstructed  rubies  "  although  not  difficult 
to  differentiate  by  tests,  from  the  red  corundum  of 
gem  quality  from  Nature's  laboratory,  attain  some 
commercial  success.  Also  called  "  Scientific  Ruby." 

REFLECTION.  The  act  of  reflecting  or  throwing  back,  as 
of  rays  of  light. 

REFRACTION.  Bending  back.  In  optics,  the  refraction  of 
a  ray  of  light  into  a  number  of  other  rays  forming  a 


Glossary  353 

hollow  cone.  Double  Refraction:  In  crystals  that  are 
not  homogeneous  but  have  different  properties  of 
elasticity,  etc.,  in  different  directions,  if  a  ray  of 
light  enter  the  crystal  in  some  particular  directions 
it  is  not  simply  refracted  but  divided  into  two  rays. 

REJECTIONS.     Diamonds  not  worthy  of  cutting. 

RENIFORM.     Kidney-shaped. 

RESINOUS.  The  lustre  of  yellow  resins;  manifested  in  the 
common  forms  of  garnets. 

RHOMBS.     Lozenge-shaped  faces. 

RIVERS.     Diamonds  found  in  the  beds  of  rivers. 

RONTGEN  RAYS.     (See  X-rays.) 

ROSETTE.  (Rose-cut.)  A  form  of  cutting  in  which  the 
stone's  base  is  a  single  face;  the  general  form  is 
pyramidal  and  the  several  varieties  each  possess  a 
different  number  of  facets;  a  Double  Rosette,  also 
called  "  Pendeloque "  is  of  the  form  of  two  rosettes 
joined  at  their  bases. 

ROUGH.     Uncut  crystals. 

ROUND-STONES.     Diamond  crystals  with  arched  facets. 

SCHIST.  A  term  used  for  rocks  consisting  of  mineral 
ingredients  arranged  so  as  to  impart  a  more  or  less 
laminar  structure  that  may  be  broken  into  slabs  or 
slaty  fragments. 

SECOND  BYE.     Fifth  grade  of  rough  diamonds. 

SECOND  CAPE.  Third  grade  of  .South  African  rough  dia- 
monds. 

SEMITRANSPARENT.  When  objects  are  visible  through  a 
mineral,  though  the  outlines  are  indistinct. 

SHARPS.     Thin,  knife-edge  pieces  of  diamond. 

SIAMS.  Dark,  garnet-coloured  rubies  usually  found  in 
Siam. 

SIGHT.  Exhibition  of  rough  diamonds  by  the  London 
Syndicate  to  applicants  for  the  privilege  of  inspecting 
and  purchasing. 

SILK.    White,  glistening  streaks  in  the  grain  of  rubies. 

SILKY.  A  lustre  suggesting  silk,  as  exhibited  by  crocido- 
lite. 

SILVER  CAPES.  Diamonds  having  a  very  slight  tint  ol 
yellow. 


354  Glossary 

SKIP.  A  bucket  employed  in  narrow  or  inclined  mine 
shafts,  where  the  hoisting  device  must  be  confined 
between  guides. 

SMARAGDUS.  Ancient  name  for  emerald  and  other  green 
stones. 

SORTERS.  The  experts  at  the  South  African  diamond 
mines  who  assort  the  rough  diamonds. 

SORTING  TABLES.  Tables  on  which  rough  diamonds  are 
assorted. 

SPECIFIC  GRAVITY.  The  relative  weight  of  bulk  as  com- 
pared with  distilled  water  at  60°  F. 

SPECTRUM.  The  coloured  image  or  images  produced  when 
the  rays  from  any  source  of  light  are  decomposed  or 
dispersed  by  refraction  through  a  prism. 

SPLINTS.     Thin,  pointed  pieces  of  diamonds. 

SPREAD.     Surface  in  proportion  to  the  depth  of  a  stone. 

STAR  STONES.  Sapphires,  and  sometimes  rubies,  which 
by  structure  and  cutting  are  seen  to  be  asteriated, 
exhibiting  a  star  of  six  rays  of  light. 

STEP-CUT.  (Trap-Cut.)  A  form  of  cutting  employed  for 
stones  not  deeply  coloured  when  they  are  not  cut  as 
brilliants;  a  simple  typical  form  is  that  of  a  stepped 
pyramid  with  the  apex  sliced  off. 

STREAK.  Colour  of  the  surface  of  a  stone  after  being 
rubbed  or  scratched.  "Streak-Powder"  is  the  powder 
abraded  from  a  stone. 

STRIATED.  Term  applied  to  minerals  which  exhibit  lines 
traversing  the  plane  of  a  crystal;  such  lines  bear  a 
definite  relation  to  certain  forms  of  the  mineral  on 
which  they  occur. 

SUBTRANSLUCENT.  When  the  edges  of  a  mineral  only 
transmit  light  faintly. 

TABLE-STONE.  The  typical  form  thus  described  is  a  style 
of  diamond-cutting  derived  from  an  octahedron  by 
cutting  to  opposite  corners  to  an  equal  amount. 

TAILINGS.  The  refuse  part  of  washed  gem  ground,  rock, 
or  gravel  which  is  thrown  behind  the  tail  of  the 
washing  apparatus  and  which  is  put  through  a 
second  process  to  recover  values  possibly  remain- 
ing. 


Glossary  355 

TALCOSE.     Partaking  of  the  characters  of  talc. 

TALLOW-TOPPED.  A  stone  cut  with  a  flattish  convex  sur- 
face. 

TARIFF.  Ten  per  cent,  import  duty  imposed  upon  cut 
diamonds  by  the  United  States  Government. 

TETRAGONAL.  Pertaining  to  a  tetragon;  having  four  an- 
gles or  sides,  as  a  square,  quadrangle,  or  rhomb. 

TETRAGONAL  SYSTEM.  A  system  of  crystallisation  in 
which  the  lateral  axes  are  equal,  being  the  diameters 
of  a  square,  while  the  vertical  is  either  longer  or 
shorter  than  the  lateral.  Called  also  Dimetric,  Mona- 
dimetric,  or  Pyramidal  System. 

TIFFANYITE.  A  hydrocarbon,  causing  phosphorescence  and 
opalescence  in  some  precious  stones. 

TOP  CRYSTALS.     Standard  grade  of  diamonds. 

TORN  END.    A  three-cornered  pyramid  from  the  point  of 


TRANSLUCENT.    Minerals    so  nearly  opaque  that   objects 

are  scarcely,  if  at  all,  visible  through  them. 
TRANSPARENT.    When  the  outlines  of   an  object  can  be 

seen  through  a  gem  distinctly. 
TRICLINIC.     The  system  in  crystallography  in  which  the 

three  crystallographic  axes  are  unequal,  and  inclined 

at  angles  which  are   hot  right   angles,  so   that  the 

forms  are  oblique   in  every  direction,   and   have  no 

plane  of  symmetry. 
TWINNED.     Two   or   more   distinct  crystals  which    have 

been  formed  in  conjunction. 
UNIAXIAL.     Having    one    direction    within    the    crystal, 

along  which  a  ray  of  light  can  proceed  without  being 

bifurcated. 
UNIO.    The  river   mussel;  the  type-genus  of  Unionidae, 

with  more  than  400  species  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
URALIAN.    Minerals  from  the  Ural  Mountains,  Siberia. 
VITREOUS.    Glassy,  as  glassy  lustre. 
WASSIE.    A  large  cleavage  of  a  crystal  split  for  cutting, 

as  an  octahedron  divided  into  two  pieces. 
WAXY.     A  distinctive  lustre,  as  of  the  turquoise. 
WEATHERING.    The  disintegration  and  decay  of  minerals 

under  the  influence  of  the  weather. 


356,  Glossary 

WELL.  Name  given  to  the  dark  centre  of  a  diamond  cut 
too  thick. 

WESSELTONS.     Third  grade  cut  diamonds. 

X-RAYS.  (Rontgen  Rays.)  A  recently  discovered  form 
of  radiant  energy  that  is  sent  out  when  the  cathode 
rays  of  a  Crookes  tube  strike  upon  the  opposite  walls 
of  the  tube  or  upon  any  object  in  the  tube;  discovered 
in  1895  at  Wiirzburg,  Germany,  by  Professor  W.  C. 
Rontgen.  By  means  of  these  rays  it  is  possible  to 
see  and  photograph  bones,  bullets,  or  other  opaque 
objects  through  the  fleshy  parts  of  the  body.  The 
X-rays  are  of  some  value  in  testing  mineral  sub- 
stances represented  as  precious  stones.  Under  X-rays 
the  diamond  is  transparent ;  the  glass,  or  "  strass," 
used  to  manufacture  imitation  diamonds  is  always 
opaque  under  this  exposure. 

YELLOW  GROUND.  The  upper  diamond-bearing  clay  of 
South  African  mines. 


INDEX 


A 

Amethyst,  96 

Abrasives,  81 

Amphibole,  189 

Achates  (Drillo)  River,  176 

Amphibole  schists,  145 

Achirite,  188 

Amsterdam,  43,  47 

Achroite,  161 

Amsterdam    diamond    mar- 

Actinolite, 134 

ket,  47,  48 

Adamantine  spar,  20,  184 

Angels,  gems,  234 

Adamas,  25 

Anthrax,  84 

Adularia,  148 

Antimony,  glass  of,  212 

African  diamond  mines,  28 

Antwerp,  43,  48 

Agate,  176 

Aphrizite,  161 

Brazilian,  180 

Aphroseline,  148 

.  Dendritic  (Tree  Stone)  , 

Apostles,  gems,  234 

178 

Appendix,  285 

Iceland,  191 

Aquamarine,  64 

Moss,  176 

Aragonite,  134 

.  Opal,  116 

Artificial  rubies,  88 

Oriental  moss,  177 

Arts  and  Crafts,  264 

Alabaster,  184 

Aschentreckers,  166 

Albite,  149 

Ash-drawers,  166 

Alexandrite,  70,  132,  137 

Asterias,  93,  94 

Almandine,  108,  112 

Austrian   Yellow   Diamond, 

Almandite,  108,  110 

244 

Amatrice,  185 

Avanturine    (  a  vent  urine), 

Amazonite,  185 

150 

Amazonstone,  185 

Azurite,  186,  190 

Amber,  169 

riders,  172 

B 

Sea,  171 

Sicilian,  172 

Bacchus  Stone,  96 

357 

358 


Index 


Balas  ruby,  90 

Beau  Sancy  Diamond,  240 

Benitoite,  186 

Beryl,  63 

Beryllium,  131 

Biblical  references  to  gems, 

231 

Bibliography,  307 
Birth-stones,  234,  303-306 
Bishop's  Stone,  96 
Bizel  (Bezel),  201 
Bloodstone,  189 
Bottle  Stone,  191 
Braganza  Diamond,  125 
Brazilian  emerald,  161 

sapphire,  125 

Breastplate  of  Jewish  High 

Priest,  329 
Bronzite,  134 
Bruting,  207 

Burma's  ruby  mines,  86,  87 
Byon,  87 
Byssolite,  134 
Byssus,  76 


Cabochon  (en  cabochon)  or 
convex  cut,  200,  204 

Cacholong,  116 

Cairngorm,  187 

Calcite,  180 

granular,  189 

Callaica,  Callaina,  Callais, 
Callaite,  127 

Cameo,  179 

Cameo-engraving,  179 

Cape  Time,  the,  256 

Carat,  denned,  301,  303 

Carbonado,  23,  24 


Carbonate  of  copper,  186 

of  lime,  74 

Carbuncle,  84,  109 

Carnelian,  187 

Carnelionyx,  180 

Cat-sapphire,  93 

Cat's-eye,  131 

Ceylonese,  131 

Oriental,  131 

quartz,  135 

Chalcedony,  173,  178 

Chalcedony  Park,  138 

Chalcedonyx,  179 

Chalchihuitl,  127 

Chalcinea,  144 

Chatoyancy,  131 

Chinatowns,  146 

Chloro-melanite,  143 

Chlorophane,  188 

Chondronite,  187 

Chromic  iron,  188 

Chrysoberyl,  70,  131,  132, 
151 

Chrysoberyl,  Cloudy,  133 

Chrysocolla,  71 

Chrysolite,  151,  161 

Chrysolite,  Oriental,  151 

Chrysoprase,  138 

Cinnamon  Stone,  113 

Classification  of  diamonds 
by  buyers  for  the  London 
Syndicate,  41,  42 

by  sorters  in  South  Af- 
rica, 39,  40 

Classification  of  gems,  by 
author,  7 

by  Bauer,  16-19 

by  Kluge,  12-16 

by  Streeter,  10-11 

Cobra  Stone,  188 


Index 


359 


Collet,  201 

Colours  of  gems,  292,  293 

Congo  Emerald,  188 

Copper,  emerald-copper,  71 

Coral,  102,  107 

Coral  Bank,  Sicilian,  104 

Coral,  Fossil  Coral,  107 

Coral  Industry  in  Italy,  104 

Corallium  rubrum,  103 

Cordierite,  95 

Corundum,  80, 82, 83,  88,  91, 

92 

Counterfeiting  gems,  210 
Costliest   strand   of   pearls, 

77,  78 

Crocidolite,  134,  135 
Crown  of  a  cut  gem,  200 
Crown  of  the  Moon    (Taj- 

e-Mah)    Diamond,  244 
Crystallography,  196 
systems   of    crystal 

form,  393 
Culet,  201 

Cullinan  Diamond,  48-55 
Curative  attributes  of  gems, 

235 

Cymophane,  131 
Czar  of   Russia's  Emerald, 

67 


Days  represented  by  gems, 

232 
De    Beers    diamond    mines 

and  processes,  33,  37 
Demantoids,  113,  152 
Dendritic    Agate    (Tree 

Stone),  178 
Diamond,  23 


Blue,  95 

Discovery  of  diamonds 

in  South  Africa,  29 

Diamond  cutter,  195 

Diamond  Cutters'  Manufac- 
turers' Association,  259 

Diamond  Cutters'  Trade 
Union,  253 

Diamond-cutting,  195 

Diamond-cutting  industry  in 
the  United  States,  260 

Diamond  mines  of  India,  26, 
27 

Diamond  of  Crete,  26 

Diamond-sawing  machines, 
208 

Diamond  Syndicate,  the 
London,  30,  39,  41,  43 

Diamond  Workers'  Protec- 
tive Union  of  America, 
257 

Dichroism,  a  list  of  leading 
twin-coloured  gems,  294 

Dichroitc,  189 

Dingley  tariff,  257 

Diopside,  187,  189 

Dioptase,  71,  188 

Disk,  205 

Dispersion,  24 

Divination  by  stones,  232 

Dop,  205,  206 

machine,  or  mechan- 
ical, 207 

Doublets,  215 

Dresden  Green  Diamond, 
243 

Duke  of  Devonshire's  Em- 
erald, 66 

Dumortierite,  134 

Duty  on  diamonds,  257 


Index 


Elektron,  170 

Emeralds,  63 

Brazilian,  70,  71,  161 

Evening,  152 

Oriental,  71 

mines,  Muzo,  Colom- 
bia, 70 

Salzburg  Alps,  70 

Ural  Mountains,  70 

Enstatite,  134 

Essonite,  113 

Euclase,  133 

Eugenie   Diamond,  242 

Excelsior,  Jubilee  Diamond, 
56,  57 

F 

Facets,  201 

Fairy  Stone,  staurolite,  192, 

193 

Faults,  86 
Feldspar,  190 
Fire  Opal,  116 
Florentine  Diamond,  244 
Fluorite,  188 
Fluorspar,   188 
Folk-lore,  228 
Fools'  Gold,  191 
Fossil  coral,  107 
Fossil  resin,  172 


Gagas  River,  189 
Gagates,   189 
Garnet,  108 
American,  114 


-Bohemian,  108 

Calcium  Iron,  113 

Green,  151 

Lime  Aluminium,  113 

Pyrope,  88,  108,  112 

— 'Sirian,  110 
Gem-cutting,  196 
Gem  minerals,  alphabetical 

list,  285-289 
Gemology,  iii.,  3 
Gems  of  the  months,  233 
Germany's     diamond    fields 

in    south-western    Africa, 

near    Liideritz    Bay,    60- 

62 

Geyserite,  117 
Girasol,  116 

•  Oriental,  94 

Girdle,  200 

Glass,  210 

Glossary,  343 

Glucina,  glucinum,  131 

Gneiss,  145 

Golconda,  26 

Gold,  188 

Golden  leek,  138 

Goldstone,  150 

Gouttes  d'eau,  123 

Granatus,  109 

Great  Mogul  Diamond,  57 

Grossularite,  113 

Gypsum,  134,  184,  192 

Red,  106 

H 

Hardness  of  gem  minerals, 

table,  296 
Haiiynite,  95 
Hawk's-eye,  136 


Index 


361 


Heavenly  City,  gems  of,  231 

Job's  Tears,  153 

Heliolite,  150 

Jubilee  Diamond,  56,  57 

Heliotrope,  173 

Hematite,  134,  188 

K 

Hiddenite,  156,  157 

Holy  City,  precious  stones 

Kimberley,  39,  40 

of,  182 

Kohinoor,  1,  26 

Hope  Diamond,  26,  242 

Kunzite,  154 

Hornblende,  134 

Kyanite,  95 

Hornstone,  138 

Hyacinth,  113,  194 

L 

Hyalina,  115,  122 

Hyalite,  116 

Labrador,  labradorite,  189 

Hyalosiderite,  153 

La  Pellegrina  pearl,  75 

Hyalus  opalinus,  115 

Lapidary,  195 

Hydrofluoric  acid,  213 

Lapis-lazuli,  189 

Hydrophane,  116 

Largest  and  smallest  pearls, 

Hypersthene,  134 

75 

Lava,  190 

I 

Vesuvian,  190 

Lazurite,  189 

Icy  flakes,  206 

Lenate,  190 

Idar  agate  industry,  178 
Ilmenite,  188 
Imitations,  209 

Lepidolite,  155,  167 
Leuco-sapphire,  92 
Limonite,  134 

Improvements,  209 
Indicolite,  95,  161 
International  Committee  of 
Weights     and    Measures, 
302 

Lithomancy,  232 
Lodestone,  190 
Lunaris,  148 
Lynx  Sapphire,  93 

lolite,  189 

M 

J 

Magnetite,  190 

Jacinth,  194 

Malachite,  190 

Jade,  143 

Marcasite,  191 

Jadeite,  143 

Marekenite,  191 

Jargons,  jargoons,  194 

Matura  diamonds,  193 

Jasper,  173 

Melee,  208 

Jesus  Christ,  175 

Mexican  Onyx,  180 

Jet,  189 

Mica,  189 

362 


Index 


Mocha  Stone,  176 

Mohs    Table    of    Hardness, 

295 

Moldavite,  191 
Montana  Ruby,  83,  114 
Moonstone,  147 
Moss  Agate,   176 
Moss  Opal,  116 
Mountain  Mahogany,  191 
Mount  a  jour,  262 
Mount  Mica,  Maine,  160 
Miiller's  Glass,  116 
Muscovite,  166 

N 

Natal  stones,  234 
Nephrite,  143 
Nephrus  amorphus,  144 


Oberstein    agate    industry, 

178 

Obsidian,  190 
Odontolite,  130 
Oligoclase,  150 
Olivines,  113,  151 
Onyx,  179 

Carnelian,  180 

Chalcedony,  181 

Mexican,  180 

Opal,  115 

Australian,  119,  121 

Ceylonese,  150 

Harlequin,  116 

Honduras,  118 

Hungarian,  118 


Jasp,  116 

Moss,  116 

Noble,  117 

-Oriental  118 

Precious,  117 

-Wood,  116 

Opalescent     orthoclase-feld- 

spar,  148 

Opalised  wood,  150 
Oriental  gem  cutters,  198 
Oxide  of  titanium,  192 


Paste,  210 

Pavilion,  200 

Pearl,  72 

Pearlylite,  191 

Peridot,  151,  161 

of  Ceylon,  161 

Phenacite,  191 

Phenax,  191 

Pigeon-blood  rubies,  84 

Pingas  d'agoa,  123 

Pinites  succinifer,  170 

Pinking,  124 

Pitt  (Regent)  Diamond,  58, 
60 

Plasma,  173 

Polar  Star  Diamond,  243 

Pomegranate,  89 

Precious  stones,  classed,  9 

Premier  Mines,  39 

Premier  Mines,  new  (Trans- 
vaal), 55,  56 

Pseudo-nephrite,  143 

Pyrite,  189,  191 

Pyro-electricity,  159 

Pyroxene,  156,  187 


Index 


363 


"!U  '-Quartz-Aventurine,  150 

'•  '  '  •'•  —  ^.  Amethystine,  98 

;-/v-^T7  'Balls,  237 

*'•..  •—-  Chalcedonic,  176 

>;-;  -^—''Citrine,  216 

'•":.  -  —  vCrypto-crystalline,  176 

v.«  •y^r  Crystallised,  177 

';  V  ..•*-•  Obscurely    crystallised, 

U'-"i76 

'^•f—  :&ed,  133 

ife  * 

•"*  Descent,  159 
S.&atlnijn,  158 
••••.'Jifccbnstructed  rubies,  38, 

•'<2r8' 

•    Reconstructed  sapphires, 


,  ,  209 

W;  -'Red  .dirt,  155 
•-;..&efr,action,  298,  299 
'*'?  Hegerrt  (Pitt)  Diamond,  58, 


;;.  fehtJdolite,  111 

;  Crystal,  133 
,  113 
n  (X-)  rays,  158,  300 

,  154,  161 
":'.  Rubfes,  79-83 
'  ,  88,  112,  114 

-  ._  -False,  188 

,  88,  114 
,  79,  80,  81,  83 
,  88,  218 
,  88,  218 
,  88 
-of,  85 


Ruby  mines  of  Siam,  87 
Rutile,  192 

S 

Sapphire,  91 

Asteriated,  94 

Brazilian,  125 

Indigo,  93 

Leuco-,  92 

Lynx,  93 

Oriental,  91 

Scientific,  222 

Star,  94 

Water,  93,  189 

White,  92 

Sapphire    mines    of    Siam, 

199 

Saprolite,  111 
Sard,  181 
Sardonyx,  181 
Satin  spar,  192 
Saussurite,  143 
Scapolite,  189 
Scientific  rubies,  88,  218 

sapphires,  222 

Schneckenstein  topaz  mines, 

126 

Scoop  Stone,  172 
Sea  Amber,  170 
Sea  Stone,  170 
Selenite,  148 
Semi-precious  stones,  183 

Classified,  9-10 

Shaking  table,  38 
Skaifs,  44 

Slaves'  diamonds,  125 
Soldier's  Stone,  96 
Sorting  tables,  37,  38 


'      ' 


3^4 


Index 


Specific     gravity     of     gem 

Indian,  125 

minerals,  table,  297,  298 

Oriental,  92,  125 

Spessartite,  114 

Rhombicus,  122 

Sphaarulite,  191 

Rose  Pink,  124 

Sphen,  193 

Saxon,  125 

Sphene,  193 

Scotch,  125 

Spinel,  88 

Smoky,  125,  187 

Pomegranate,  89 

Spanish,  125 

Vinegar-Spinel,  133 

True,  123 

Spodios,  156 

Topazios,  122 

Spodumene,  154 

Topazolite,  113 

-Brazilian,  157 

Tourmalines,  160                  .  *.  .. 

unaltered,  155 

black,  166 

Star  of  South  Africa  Dia- 

  red,  162 

mond,  31,  241 

twin-coloured,  162  •>Yl*> 

Staurolite,  192 

Transparency  of  gems  un-    ' 

Stick,  206 

der   Rontgen    (X-)    rays,     • 

Strass,  211 

300 

Style,  181 

Tree  Stone,  178 

Styles  of  cutting,  199 

Triphane,  156 

Succinite,  113,  170 

Triplets,  215 

Succinum  electrum,  170 

Tulp  Straat,  Amsterdam,  46 

Sulphur  Stone,  191 

Turkis,  127 

Sunstone,  148,  150 

Turmali,  160 

Sun-turning,  173 

Turquoise,  127 

Supernatural    attributes    of 

Matrix,.  129 

gems,  235 

Occidental,  130 

Twelve  Mazarins,  the,  240 

.T 

'.  •  • 

U 

Tabasheer,  116 

1  .  . 

Table,  200 

United  States  tariff  on  im* 

Tests  of  genuineness,  212 

ported  diamonds,  43     • 

Thermo-luminescence,  159 

Universal    Diamond    Work--    .'.' 

Tiger-eye,  135 

ers'  Alliance,  258 

Titanite,  193 

Uvarovite,  114 

Topaz,  122 

Blue,  125 

v 

Brazilian,  126 

•      •  .   •  •  ' 

False,  125 

Valuation  of  gems,  22        « 

Index 


365 


Variscite,  185 
Volcanic  Glass,  190 

W 

Wardite,  185 
White  Acid,  213 
White  Stones,  210 
Wilnite,  113 
Woof,  135 


Yu  stone,  146 
Yu  Yu  Shih,  146 


Zircon,  193 


\ 


RN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACIUTY. 


